


His First Name is Agent

by redlipstickblackdress



Series: Norah's Plants [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Botany, Bunburying, Cooking, F/M, Feels, Fluff, Food, Humor, Mild Sexual Content, Non-Graphic Violence, Plants, Pop Culture, Romance, Sassy, Science, Strip Tease, lap dance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-27
Updated: 2013-08-27
Packaged: 2017-12-24 20:25:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 51
Words: 26,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/944282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redlipstickblackdress/pseuds/redlipstickblackdress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phil Coulson is assigned to protect a quirky botanist when she genetically engineers a plant with amazing medicinal value...and get the plant from her so that SHIELD can keep it out of the wrong hands.  She refuses to hand it over, and soon, Coulson develops feelings for her. </p><p>Her best friend and sometimes lab assistant is also in danger, since she helped out with creating the plant, and she and Clint Barton hit it off right away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Coulson's Mission

**Author's Note:**

> The joke in The Avengers is Tony Stark saying "Phil? Uh, his first name is Agent." What I wanted to do in this story was imagine who Phil Coulson is as a person...what does he like, dislike, enjoy? What is his family like? Stuff like that. The only things that are canon are his Captain America fanboying. The rest is my own invention. 
> 
> I also wanted to imagine Clint Barton - we don't get to see much of him in the movie and I imagine him having an incredible sense of humor. 
> 
> I hope you like it. Enjoy. :)

Dr. Norah Kensington removed her goggles and stared at her new creation, her blue-gray eyes wide. It was a genetically engineered plant that could cure a number of diseases if used in various ways. This could be a scientific breakthrough of epic proportions, help thousands of people, and revolutionize modern medicine.

“We did it. Mandy, we did it!” she shouted, pumping her fists in the air excitedly. She turned to hug her sometimes-lab-technician and always-best-friend-and-roommate, Mandy Harper.   
They had successfully engineered a plant with endless medicinal possibilities. 

“What do we do with it now?” Mandy asked, her curly red ponytail swishing as she removed her goggles. 

“We have to hide it,” she said, her hands fluffing her shoulder-length brown hair into a mess. “Just until we can experiment with it. We have to make sure it’s effective and consistent, what the side effects are, what dangers are involved, how it reacts with a variety of ages, sexes, and races—”

“Norah! Slow down. Where should we hide it?” 

“Not in the lab. Someone will find it immediately. Our place seems kind of risky too…”

“I might know of a place,” Mandy informed her. “What do you think about— ” she told her friend the location she was thinking about, and they quickly worked on stowing the plant away from those who might want to steal it. 

*****

Agent Phil Coulson took the digital file back to his office and pulled up the information on the screen. He was immediately met with a picture of a young woman, maybe mid- to late-twenties with shoulder-length brown hair and gray-blue eyes. Dr. Norah Kensington: a scientist with a PhD in botany. Apparently she was some sort of genius who had genetically engineered a plant with the potential to cure thousands if not millions of people. When scientific breakthroughs of this magnitude got into the wrong hands, they could be held against the population, so Nick Fury liked to intercept them with the hope that they would be used for the good of humanity. The last thing he wanted was for someone to make a bunch of people sick and then withhold the cure. 

It was Coulson’s assignment to get a hold of this plant before someone with bad intentions got to it. He read up on Norah and her work, preparing to pay her a visit.


	2. Norah's "Baby"

Norah got home after a long day in the lab and set her purse on the table near the door, then screamed when she looked up and saw a man standing in her apartment. He was wearing a nice suit and had bright blue eyes and dark hair. 

“Who are you? How did you get in here? What do you want?” she demanded. He took a step toward her and spoke calmly. 

“Dr. Kensington—”

“How do you know my name?!” she panicked, picking up an umbrella near the door and holding it up like one would hold a baseball bat. 

“Dr. Kensington, allow me to explain. I’m Agent Phil Coulson. I’m here on behalf of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division, or S.H.I.E.L.D.” She stared at him, waiting for further explanation. “It has been brought to my attention that you have made a remarkable scientific discovery.” She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, so he continued. “You have engineered a plant with the ability to cure a multitude of ailments?” At this, Norah lowered her umbrella and put it back against the wall. 

“How do you know about my plant?” 

“I’m not at liberty to say. However, it is vitally important that it be kept safe. That’s why I’m here – to get it from you.” 

“You want my plant?” 

“S.H.I.E.L.D. can keep it out of the wrong hands.” 

“How do I know that your hands are the right ones? Look, James Bond, the plant hasn’t been tested.” 

“We can test it in our laboratories.” 

“No!” she said, stomping her foot, on the verge of tears. “I created it; I want to be the one to test it. Mr…Coulson, was it? – you don’t understand what you’re asking,” she started pacing around, pulling at her hair. It was a habit of hers. “That plant…that research…took years. It’s my baby. A mother doesn’t just hand over her baby to some creepy guy who broke into her apartment.” He raised his eyebrows at the creepy comment, but let it slide. “I’m not giving you the plant and I assure you, it’s very well-hidden. Please close the door on your way out.”  
Coulson was perfectly calm and professional during this whole exchange and now walked to the door to let himself out. 

“This won’t be the last you’ll see of me,” he told her, opening the door. 

“I’m sure,” she replied sarcastically, and he just gave her a calm smile and gently closed the door behind him.


	3. Clint's Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mugging / attempted rape trigger warning for just this chapter.
> 
> Summary: Clint Barton saves Mandy from a scary situation and walks her home.

Mandy was walking home from her evening class. She was working on finishing up her PhD in chemical engineering. Tired and wanting to get home more quickly, she decided to cut through an alley instead of going around the buildings. Bad idea. Someone came out of a shadow and ganged up on her. 

“I heard about your friend and her plant. You helped, didn’t you?” 

“Um…yeah, a little…who are you?” she said, her voice trembling. This guy didn’t sound friendly. 

“You don’t need to know that,” he said, coming toward her. He was big and terrifying. “All you need to do is tell me where the plant is.” 

“I don’t know where it is,” she lied. 

“That’s cute, wanting to help your friend, but I can make you talk,” the guy said, walking toward her and making her back into a wall. When her face was more in the light, she could see him smile. “I didn’t know you were so cute,” he leered. “I was going to try to coerce you into talking, but now I’m thinking I have some other ideas. I could make you scream instead,” he said in a thoroughly creepy voice. Mandy started tearing up, realizing what he was saying, and that she probably couldn’t outrun him, when she heard a different male voice come out of the shadows.

“Not on my watch,” he said, and there was a twanging sound, and a moment later, an arrow was in the back of the scary man’s shoulder. Mandy screamed slightly from surprise; the man screamed in pain and fell on his knees. He recovered himself and stood up, snarling angrily, but the archer came out of the shadows and pointed his bow and arrow at him. “The next one I shoot goes into your heart,” he said. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is, you run away and never bother this young lady again. The hard way? You choose between my arrow and a lifetime of trying not to drop the soap in the shower.” With that, the creep took off running, holding a hand to his shoulder, which still had an arrow sticking out of it. The archer turned to Mandy, and she got a good look at him. 

He had brown hair, blue eyes, a tan, and was incredibly attractive. He had amazing arms, muscular and toned from working with a bow and arrow, and was wearing black pants, a zippered vest, and archer gloves. He looked at her and put a hand on her shoulder. 

“You okay?” 

“Yes,” she said, her voice trembling from the shock of the situation. 

“If you don’t mind, I think it would be a good idea if I saw you home.” 

“Thank you…I really appreciate that.” 

“Clint Barton,” he introduced himself, holding out a hand. 

“Mandy Harper,” she returned, offering her hand into his firm handshake. She pointed him in the direction they were going and they started walking – she only lived a couple blocks away. 

“I’m afraid the alley predator isn’t the only person who’s after your friend’s plant. The organization I work for wants it too – but they want to keep it safe. You and your friend would probably be safer if you gave it to us.” 

“Well, you’re going to have to talk to her,” she told him. “It’s Norah’s baby, she’s really the one who did it all, I just assisted from time to time while I’ve been going to school.” 

“We have people talking to your friend Norah, but it might help if you talked to her too.” 

“I can try, but I’m not making any promises. I’m going to respect what she wants,” Mandy said loyally. “But I can try talking to her.” 

“That’s all we ask.” They reached the apartment and Mandy turned to Clint. 

“Thank you for saving me tonight,” she said. 

“Just helping out,” he said modestly. He put a hand on her arm. “Take care of yourself, Mandy.” With that, he disappeared back down the street.


	4. Roommate Bonding

Mandy entered the apartment to find Norah on the couch watching TV. 

“You will not believe what happened to me on the way home,” she said. Norah muted the TV and turned to listen to her friend’s story. “First, I was accosted on the way home by a guy who wanted your plant, and then he tried to force himself upon me. But then, this guy came out of nowhere and shot him with, I kid you not, a bow and arrow, and scared the guy off. Then the archer walked me home to make sure I was safe.” 

“Ooh, you have a knight in shining armor!” Norah bounced on the couch gleefully. “Was he cute?” 

“Incredibly hot. His name is Clint,” Mandy told her with a smile.

“Are you going to see him again?” Norah asked. 

“Well…I don’t know…that’s the thing,” she said hesitantly. “He…seemed to also want your plant.” Norah’s face fell. “He said he works for an organization that wants to keep it safe and that someone was already talking to you about it.” 

“Oh, right, James Bond.” Mandy looked at her inquisitively. “Oh, there was this guy in a suit here earlier. Said he was Agent something-or-other. He tried to talk me into giving him the plant, but I refused.” Suddenly, Norah’s eyes went wide and she grabbed handfuls of her hair. “Oh, Mandy, you didn’t tell them where it is, did you? I don’t want anyone having it, I want to make sure I can test it and everything, and I just can’t give it to anyone, I just can’t!” 

“Norah, Norah, calm down. No, I didn’t tell them. I said I would talk to you about it, but I told them I’d respect your wishes on the matter. No one is going to take it away without you saying so.” 

“Thank you, Mandy. You’re the best friend.” The two women hugged. “Now…Buffy marathon?” They settled into the couch and enjoyed the show.


	5. Thieves

Norah got home from work and opened the door to find that her apartment was a mess. Flower vases and picture frames were shattered on the floor. Pillows were thrown all over the place. Papers and books were strewn everywhere. She looked at the place with horror, her mouth hanging open, when two men came out of her bedroom wearing dark clothes, gloves, and balaclavas. 

“Where is it?” one demanded, quickly closing the distance between them and shaking her. 

“Where is what?” she tried to ask innocently. 

“You know what, bitch!” he said, slapping her hard across the face. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, her voice trembling. The guy punched her in the jaw, then grabbed her by the back of the shirt and threw her into the wall head-first. She felt blood trickling down her face, then everything went black as she fell to the floor. 

“Just leave her,” one of the guys said. “Let’s keep looking.” 

*****

Mandy walked in to quite a sight. The apartment was trashed, there were a couple of cops looking around, and Norah was lying on the couch with an ice pack to her jaw while a paramedic was dealing with a large cut on her forehead. She also had a black eye. 

“Norah! Oh my god, are you okay? What happened?” 

“I’m okay,” she said, her voice a little muffled from her hurt jaw. “They broke in, they were looking for the plant.” 

“Did they find it?” Mandy asked. 

“No,” she said. 

“Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you not hold still,” the paramedic said, and Norah didn’t say anything more. Mandy went with a cop to answer some questions.


	6. A New Houseguest

The next day in the lab was a lot of cleaning up – apparently the burglars had looked for the plant there, too. Norah had a hard time doing the work, since her entire body was sore, but fortunately Mandy was there to help. By the end of the day, the lab was in a much better state, although hundreds of dollars in broken glassware would need to be replaced. Mandy left to go to a class while Norah made her way home. 

Norah cautiously went inside, but was not met with any vandalism or violence, so she quickly went to the freezer, grabbed a bag of frozen broccoli, and flopped down on the couch, rested her head on the back, and held the impromptu ice pack over the right side of her face where the black eye and bruised jaw were. Suddenly, it dawned on her that she wasn’t alone in the apartment. She raised her head to look at Agent Coulson with her left eye. He was sitting in a chair across from the couch. 

“You and your friends don’t like to knock, do you?” she asked, a little bitterly. 

“Those weren’t my friends,” he said calmly. “I did tell you that you would see me again.”

“That you did, Bond,” she replied, pointing to him. He looked a bit confused. “James Bond? The suit? The agent thing?” 

“Agent Coulson.”

“Right. Negatory on the pop culture reference.”

“I’ve been sent to get the plant. It would ensure your safety,” he told her. 

“Okay, Bond – Coulson. This plant is my life. Like I said before, it’s my baby. I gave birth to it, I raised it, I turned it into the fully-functioning creature it is today. Alright, that metaphor became a little creepy, it kind of sounds like, ‘Feed me, Seymour.’” Coulson looked at her blankly. “Little Shop of Horrors? You really don’t watch very many movies, do you?” Norah realized she was off-topic. “The point is, no matter how many people come to beat me up, I am not giving away my plant. I will do everything I can to protect it.” 

“In that case, I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“If you’re protecting the plant, I’ve been told to protect you.”

“Like a bodyguard?”

“Something like that.” He pulled out a suitcase and a large garment bag from under her chair. 

“What, are we having a sleepover?” she joked. When she saw the look on his face, she dropped her bag of frozen broccoli. “Oh, come on, I was joking. You’re spending the night?” 

“S.H.I.E.L.D. thought it would be best if, in lieu of you giving us the plant, I guarded you 24/7. You never know when someone might attack you when you are in possession of something so powerful.” 

Giving up, Norah opened the hall closet and grabbed a pillow and some blankets. 

“Fine,” she said, tossing them onto the couch. “You can change in the bathroom if you want.”

“Thank you for your cooperation, Dr. Kensington.” He disappeared into the bathroom and came out a few minutes later with his suit folded up nicely in his hands, wearing black athletic pants and a blue t-shirt. Norah was a bit taken aback – he was handsome, and she’d noticed it before, but this was definitely a different look, a more intimate one, almost. 

“I’ve had a long day, I’m going to take a shower and sleep. Help yourself to whatever, TV, orange juice, you can look around.” This was a very odd situation, but she still defaulted into good hostess mode. 

“If I can look around, does that mean the plant isn’t here?” he asked. 

“Goodnight,” was all she said, grabbing her pajamas and disappearing into the bathroom.


	7. Clint's Second Rescue

Mandy got home later than usual because she had been doing some extra work for class. She wanted to get home quickly, but decided against walking through a dark alley. She stopped at an intersection to cross the street, but the light took forever to change. She didn’t see any cars coming, so she just decided to cross, when a car came squealing around the corner unexpectedly. It got close to hitting her, but something hard hit her body and tackled her out of the way. She found herself looking into the blue eyes of Clint Barton. 

“Didn’t I tell you to take care of yourself last time I saw you?”

“Yeah, well, maybe I just wanted to see you again,” she said teasingly. 

“I’m flattered, but you could have just asked for my number,” he said, standing up off of her and extending a hand to help her up. 

“I didn’t actually cross the street with the intention of getting you to save me again, but could I have your number anyway?” 

Clint smiled and held his hand out. She placed her phone in it and he entered his number in it. He handed it back to her and she sent him a text. 

“And now you have mine,” she smiled. 

“I’ll see you around, I guess, Mandy.” So he remembered her name. 

“I hope so.” With that, they took off in opposite directions, each heading their separate ways with a smile. 

Mandy unlocked the apartment and went inside to find most of the lights off – Norah must have gone to sleep. Turning on a small lamp so that it wouldn’t be too bright, but just enough for her to see her way to her room, she walked by the couch and stopped in her tracks. There was a handsome man sleeping on the couch. Was Norah dating someone? She certainly hadn’t been told. However, she was too tired to look into it and decided she’d figure it out in the morning.


	8. Mandy Meets Coulson

Norah awoke and put on her usual work clothes, consisting of black pants, black and white Converse, a vintage top, and retro red lipstick. By this time, the coffee had finished brewing, so she poured herself a large mug and started sipping it. Soon after, Agent Coulson woke up. 

“Good morning, Dr. Kensington.” 

“You can call me Norah, now that we’re apparently living together,” she said, a bit snarky. “Do you want some coffee?”

“Thank you; that would be great.” 

“How do you take it?” 

“Black.” She poured him some and as he was taking a sip, Mandy emerged in pajama shorts and a tank top. Norah immediately poured her roommate some, adding cream the way she liked it, and handed it to her friend. 

“Hello,” Mandy said to Coulson, giving him a once-over. “Mandy Harper,” she introduced, giving Norah a questioning look. 

“Phil Coulson,” he returned. 

“Oh, right. Mandy, Agent C., Agent C., Mandy. Agent C. is my bodyguard, apparently.”

“Your what?” Mandy raised an eyebrow.

“He works for some spy organization or something and wants the plant. But in order to keep me from getting beat up or murdered or whatever, Agent C. here was sent to protect me, because that’s the only way anyone will ever get their mitts on my plant.” Norah was thoroughly cranky this morning. 

“Woah, you’re like a celebrity,” Mandy said to her friend. “Awesome!” 

“Would it be alright if I used your shower?” Coulson asked politely. Norah put her cup down to grab him a towel. She was still in a bad mood. 

“Sure. Sleep on my couch, drink my coffee, use my shower…you’re still not getting my plant.” 

“Thank you,” he said, taking his clothes and the towel into the bathroom. 

Norah went back to the kitchen and picked up her coffee. 

“He’s attractive,” Mandy commented. 

“I guess.” Mandy just stared at her. “Okay, I noticed. But he wants the plant. He’s not getting it.” 

“Still, it’s good that you have someone watching your back after that incident the other night.” 

“That’s true,” Norah admitted. The girls took a couple sips of their coffee before Mandy changed the subject.

“I saw Clint again last night,” she said with a smile. 

“You did? Yay! Details.” 

“He pushed me out of the way of an oncoming car. He was flirting with me. We exchanged numbers.” 

“That’s exciting! Do you think he’ll call you?” 

“I hope so.” 

“Well, I’m just glad he keeps saving you from danger. If he works with Agent C., he’ll probably be keeping an eye on you. But he obviously likes you. At least you get the charming one, I get Mr. I’ve-Never-Heard-of-James-Bond.” 

“I don’t know, he seems pretty polite,” Mandy shrugged. At this point, Coulson emerged from the bathroom with wet hair. He had on black pants and a nice blue shirt. He grabbed a tie and popped his collar up to place it around his neck, lowering the collar crisply over it and beginning to tie it into a clean knot. Mandy gave Norah a ‘I don’t know what you’re complaining about’ look and went to go get ready herself while Coulson pulled on his suit jacket. 

“Agent C?” 

“Yes, Dr. Kensington?”

“Norah. Look, I appreciate that you guys want to protect me, but could you do me a favor and protect Mandy instead? She was attacked the other night and it’s my fault, I’m the one who talked her into helping me with the experiment, but it was really my idea, so…could you be her bodyguard instead?” 

“I’m afraid not. I was assigned to keep you protected. S.H.I.E.L.D. will ensure her safety as well. I promise you that.” 

“Thanks,” Norah sighed in relief. She just wanted to know that her best friend wouldn’t be attacked to get to her invention. “I have to go to the lab now,” she told Coulson pointedly. He just grabbed his stuff and looked ready to follow her. “Of course, you’re coming with me. Should have known.”


	9. Enter Julian

Coulson watched with interest as Norah worked. She had a line of small pots with various plants growing in them and she was looking at them and scribbling observations down in a composition notebook. 

“Good morning to you, beautiful,” she said to a large white blossom, scribbling something into her notebook and smiling. Coulson was amused – she talked to these plants like they were her friends.

“Do you always talk to the plants?” he asked. 

“Yeah, usually.”

“Does it help them grow at all?” 

“Not really – I tested that. But it helps me.” 

“You really like plant life.” 

“Of course. Plants are incredible.” She said this as if she were astonished that this wasn’t obvious to him. “Now you don’t look so good. You need some water,” she said to another plant, picking up a small watering can and pouring some over the soil in its pot. 

“I don’t suppose any of these are the healing plant?” 

“If they were, do you think I’d tell you?” He didn’t answer. “No, none of these are it.” 

At this point, a young man came in wearing a lab coat. He had brown eyes, sandy hair, and black-rimmed glasses. Under the collar of his lab coat, there were some tattoos showing on his neck. He was one of the interns at the lab Norah worked for. As soon as he came in, she started smoothing her hair. 

“Hi, Julian,” Norah said with a smile. Coulson just watched this scene play out with his hands clasped behind his back. 

“Hey, Norah,” he smiled back. “Wow, this one’s beautiful, is it yours?” he pointed at a plant.

“Yeah, that’s mine. It’s a new breed of orchid,” she smiled, tilting her head and leaning forward on the counter. 

“Nice,” he smiled, suddenly noticing Coulson in the room. “I heard about all that craziness at your apartment, looks like you got a little beat up. I’m glad you’re okay.” 

“Thanks, Julian,” she smiled, resting her chin on her hand, then following his line of sight. “Oh, this is Agent C. He’s supposed to protect me until this whole situation is dealt with.” 

“Oh, cool. Well, I just came in to grab my notebook, I left it in here yesterday,” he said, opening a drawer and grabbing the notebook. “I’ll see you later, Norah.”

“Bye, Julian,” she said, looking after him when he’d left. Coulson just stood there with an amused smile, waiting until she came back to reality. 

"Nailed it," he said, completely deadpan. 

“Oh, don’t judge me. Like your game is any better,” she grumbled.


	10. Clint Makes a Date

Mandy had a break in between some classes and decided to grab some lunch. She got some Chinese take-out and brought it to the lab, thinking that Norah would probably be hungry. When she arrived at the lab, Norah was all smiles – a marked improvement to earlier that morning. 

“Hey, I brought Chinese.” 

“Thank goodness, I’m starving, that sounds amazing! Let’s go to the cafeteria, I don’t want to get food on any equipment.” Coulson followed them down the hall and into the elevator, and Mandy looked at her friend’s smile. 

“You saw Julian today, didn’t you? Does he know about your enormous crush on him yet?” 

“I don’t know…maybe I’m not being obvious enough, I mean, nobody really knows, right?” 

“I figured it out,” Coulson said from the corner of the elevator. 

“Everyone knows,” Mandy admitted to her friend, who turned bright red. “Except, him, apparently.” 

They left the elevator and entered the cafeteria, sitting at a booth. Mandy unloaded the cartons from the bag and Norah went to grab some forks. Coulson sat there looking awkward. 

“You can have some if you want,” Mandy said. “I got enough, I figured you’d be here.” 

“Thank you, that was thoughtful,” he told her. 

“Not a problem,” she said. The three ate the food, sharing it out of the cartons, and chatted. Coulson told them a little more about SHIELD and what they did. He kept trying to get information on the plant out of Norah. She told him some things – some diseases and injuries she thought the plant could cure or relieve, for example – but she wouldn’t even give him so much as a hint as to its location.

“Don’t you have to water it?” Coulson asked. 

“I wouldn’t let it die,” was all Norah would say. “It’s being taken care of.” 

At this point, Mandy’s phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and smiled, showing the name to Norah. Coulson just looked confused while Mandy left the cafeteria to take the call. 

“Hello?” Mandy answered. 

“Hey, it’s Clint, from the dark alley and the crosswalk. Completely hypothetical question: considering the nature of our last two encounters, would it be creepy if I asked you out on a date?” Mandy smiled at his sense of humor. 

“Well, hypothetically, it might be a little creepy,” she teased.

“What about non-hypothetically?” 

“Non-hypothetically,” she smiled. “I would probably say yes. If you asked me, that is.” 

“Would you go to dinner with me tonight?” 

“No,” she said in a playful voice. 

“Aw, man, but you said you’d say yes.” 

“I said I’d probably say yes.” 

“Ouch. I guess I’m out of luck, then.” 

“I guess so…unless you can change my mind.” 

“Well, I’m at a disadvantage over the phone, you can’t see my puppy face,” he said. 

“Well, then you’ll have to try to persuade me in person. Maybe tonight, over dinner?” 

“It’s a date,” he said.


	11. Clint is a Suave Mofo

Mandy smoothed out her low-cut purple dress and put on her black shoes just in time to hear Clint knock on the door. When she answered it, she was met with an attractive archer wearing a red button-up shirt and one very persuasive puppy face. She stared at him. He stared back. She tried so hard not to crack, but the power of the puppy face was too much for her. 

“Okay, okay, you win, put away the face.” Clint smiled. 

“I did warn you. You, however, did not warn me that you would look so stunning.”

“Thank you,” she smiled. “You look pretty too.” 

They walked several blocks away to an Italian restaurant that Mandy didn’t even know about. Clint was greeted by the host as if they were good friends, and they were seated in a cozy table in the back. Clint ordered them some incredible wine and they sipped it while they chatted and waited for their food. Mandy told him about the PhD in chemical engineering that she was finishing up, and Clint told her a little bit about what he did for S.H.I.E.L.D. They both had a great time. The food was brought, and it was delicious – the best Mandy had ever had. 

When they finished, Clint paid and they decided to take a walk around instead of just walking back to Mandy’s immediately. While they walked, they exhausted a variety of topics from Grateful Dead songs to Norah’s nervous habits to what Phil Coulson might have been like as a child, laughing as they exchanged anecdotes and comments. Finally, they wound their way back to Mandy’s apartment and stood outside the door. 

“I had a great time tonight,” Mandy said, her face still aglow from laughing at Clint’s jokes and stories. 

“I had an okay time,” Clint shrugged. Mandy gave him a look and shook her head at him, as if to say, ‘you’d better amend that statement,’ and he chuckled. “I’m joking, I had a great time too,” he said. They both paused and looked at each other for a moment, and Clint took a step forward and put a hand on Mandy’s face, leaning in as if to kiss her. She backed away. 

“No.” 

“No goodnight kiss?” he asked.

“Not until the second date,” she said coyly. 

“I don’t suppose the puppy face could change your mind,” he teased. 

“Not a chance,” she lied. He gave her a smile. 

“Tomorrow I’ll have an internal debate about whether or not I should wait a day to call you, and then eventually cave and call you to set up that second date.” 

“You do that,” Mandy laughed. His honesty was more attractive than he knew. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”


	12. Lessons in Vegging Out

Coulson and Norah were sitting in the apartment while Mandy was on her date. She had taken a shower already and ordered a pizza and was sitting on the couch in her pajamas with wet hair. Coulson was sitting in the chair, still in his suit. 

“Agent C., it’s 9:30pm. You can change if you want,” Norah told Coulson, biting into her slice of pizza. “Don’t you ever just veg out?” she asked.

“It’s been a while since my ‘vegging out’ days, I’m a bit rusty,” he replied. So he did have a sense of humor. Coulson grabbed his pajamas and went into the bathroom, coming out a moment later. He grabbed a slice of pizza and sat down next to Norah on the couch. She had popped in Little Shop of Horrors. He couldn’t help but glance over when he noticed that Norah was mouthing along with the lyrics of the songs. He found this incredibly amusing. 

“This story is…odd,” he told her. 

“Well, yeah. What were you expecting?” she asked. He just gave her a small smile. 

The movie ended and she turned the volume down while the credits played. 

“Doesn’t that frighten you, being a botanist? Watching a movie about a plant that eats human blood?” 

“Well, carnivorous plants are pretty awesome, I mean, animals eat plants and some plants eat them right back, like, ‘we’re not taking this from you anymore’.” Coulson was giving her a strange look. “I like carnivorous plants, but I would never feed a human to one,” she told him. “I treat plants like people sometimes, but I have to draw the line somewhere.” 

“Well, that’s a relief,” he said. 

At this point, Mandy came in from her date with Clint, a smile plastered on her face. 

“Good time?” Norah asked. 

“Yes!” Mandy answered. 

“Tell me everything!” Norah insisted, and Coulson got a scared look on his face at the prospect of girl talk. “Let’s go into my room.” The two women disappeared to go over every detail of the date. However, the talk didn’t get to last very long because Mandy had to wake up early the next morning for a meeting with her advisor, so she showered and went to bed soon after.


	13. Phil Makes Pancakes

Norah woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs early in the morning. She left her room to find Coulson cooking in her kitchen, a fresh pot of coffee made. Mandy was sitting in the kitchen, fully dressed, drinking coffee and happily eating bacon. 

“Norah, Phil made bacon! And pancakes!” she said excitedly. 

“Phil?”

“That’s his name.”

“I know that. What’s going on?” Norah was a little out of it before she’d had her coffee. 

“I figured since I’m taking advantage of your hospitality, I can at least contribute something,” Coulson said, almost apologetically. “Would you like some?” Norah sat down and he put a cup of coffee in front of her. 

“Thanks,” she smiled, sipping it while he scooped pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon onto a plate. He also served some up for himself and sat down eating with them quietly. A few minutes later, Mandy finished up. 

“Well, I better get going. See you guys later,” she said, putting her plate in the sink and heading out the door. 

Coulson offered to rinse everything, and Norah thanked him for everything before going into her room to get ready. When she finally came out dressed and made up, she found Coulson coming out of the bathroom with wet hair wearing nice pants and an open shirt that he was just starting to button up. She stopped in her tracks at the glimpse of his bare chest. She should have known he’d be pretty fit for the type of job he had, but she hadn’t really thought about his body before. Now, she was suddenly quite aware of it, and it took her a moment to realize that she was staring. Coulson himself, however, was completely oblivious to this as he finished buttoning up his shirt, tucked it in, and started on his tie.

A few minutes later, they were ready to head to the lab.


	14. Norah Gets a Date

Coulson watched as Norah scribbled down more observations about her plants. Suddenly, she gasped, put down her notebook, and bent over to look at one of them. 

“Ha! I see you there, how did you get in here?” 

“What exactly are you talking to?” Coulson asked, confused and concerned. 

“Aphids,” she informed him. She looked around on her plants until she found a ladybug, and held the ladybug plant up to the aphid plant until the ladybug flew to the one with the aphids. 

“There you go, big breakfast.” 

“What made you love plants so much?” Coulson asked, genuinely curious. 

“Oh, when I was a little girl, we did that science experiment where we planted beans. I followed the instructions the teacher gave us and I was amazed at how quickly it grew. Ever since then, I’ve loved studying plants. I think what I like most about them is that they have a direct and observable response to love. You care for them, and you can see how well they do, and they give us love back, I mean, we need oxygen, and they give it freely as long as we take care of them.” She said this all very excitedly her eyes lit up. She ran her fingers through her hair, puffing it up. “And then there are so many different kinds of plants, and they all need different things to survive. No matter where you are, whether it’s hot or cold, wet or dry, there are plants there. Sorry…I got a little carried away,” she blushed. “What made you…want to do what you do?” she asked. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the entrance of Julian.

“Hey, Julian,” she smiled, smoothing down her mess of brown hair. 

“How’s it going? ‘Sup, Secret Agent Man?” Coulson just gave him a crisp nod. “How’s your orchid?” Julian asked. 

“See for yourself. I personally think she’s gorgeous, but maybe I’m a bit biased.” 

“No, she’s great,” Julian said, looking at the big flower. “Listen, Norah…” Julian looked a bit hesitantly at Coulson, but continued. “I was wondering…if you might want to have dinner tomorrow?” Norah just stared at him open-mouthed for a few moments. She didn’t snap back to life until Coulson cleared his throat pointedly. 

“Dinner. Tomorrow. Yes, I think I can do that,” she answered, her voice a bit squeaky. 

“Great. I’ll see you then,” Julian smiled, and Norah nearly collapsed. 

“Bye…Julian…” she sighed. He left the lab and Norah just stood there dumbfounded for several seconds. Then, it finally hit her what had just happened. “EEEE!” she squealed, and Coulson put his hands over his ears. She leaped over to him and slapped his arm several times. “Agent C., Agent C.! Did you see that?” 

“Yes, I was standing right here the whole time,” he said calmly.

“He asked me out! He actually asked me out!” she shouted, fluffing her hair back into a mess. “Oh, we were talking about something…what was it?” 

“I don’t remember,” Coulson lied, “Norah, what do we know about this guy?” 

“About Julian? He’s a plant pathology intern, he has a dog named Busby, his favorite lunch is grilled cheese, he sometimes listens to John Mellencamp while he’s working, he’s gorgeous, and he asked me out!” 

“That’s…not exactly what I meant.”

“What did you mean?”

“Just that I think you should be careful around him. I don’t know if we can trust him.” Norah gave Coulson a strange look. 

“Okay, Agent C., I think you’re taking the protective thing a little far. I can’t date now?” 

“I’m not telling you not to date him, I’m just telling you to exercise caution. Oh, and I have to come with you.” 

“What?!” 

“I was told to guard you 24/7. That means—”

“I know what it means…look, you can’t come with me on my date. What if he wants to kiss me?” 

“That’s…not really my area,” he said, looking a bit uncomfortable. 

“What a surprise,” she muttered just loudly enough for him to hear, and if she didn’t know better, she’d think his face turned a little pink at that remark. 

“The other option, of course, is for you to release the plant to S.H.I.E.L.D.” 

“Fine. You can come. But walk a couple hundred feet behind us and sit at a different table.” 

“I will do as much as I can to ensure your privacy,” he told her, and the subject was closed. She didn’t speak to him very much for the rest of the day.


	15. Clint Continues Being a Suave Mofo

Mandy’s phone rang and she was glad she was available to answer it. 

“Hello?”

“Hey,” the voice said on the other end. 

“I’m sorry, who is this?” she asked jokingly. 

“This is your subconscious, and you want to go out with Clint Barton again.” 

“Hmm…I think you have the wrong number…” 

“Oh, no…I got the message wrong. The message is: Clint Barton wants you to go out with him again.” 

“Oh, well in that case, all he has to do is ask me.”

“Let me put him on…” There was a longish pause. “Hello? This is Clint.” 

“My subconscious seemed to think you wanted to ask me something.” 

“Oh, right. Yeah. I was just wondering if I could interest you in a second date.” 

“What did you have in mind?” 

“Drinks tomorrow night including me singing along with the jukebox way too loudly.” 

“Only if you promise to make it a good song,” she said. 

“Of course.” 

“I can’t wait,” she said.


	16. A Date with Julian

“Do I look okay?” Norah asked frantically for the thousandth time. She was wearing a short red dress with small sleeves that went over her shoulders that showed just enough leg. 

“YES,” Mandy insisted. She was flopped on Norah’s bed mindlessly flipping through a copy of Cosmo. “Seriously, Julian is going to have a heart attack when he sees you. Now get out there, he’s going to be here any minute.” 

Mandy rolled off of the bed and opened the door, leaving the room, while Norah touched up her red lipstick and spritzed on a bit of her favorite perfume. She came out of her room and Coulson’s eyes widened. He stared at Norah, and she misinterpreted it and self-consciously tugged on the hem of her dress. Mandy, however, did not miss the look Coulson was giving Norah. It was just a confirmation that any red-blooded male would find her friend hot in that outfit. A moment later, there was the knock on their door. Fortunately, Norah had already called Julian to inform him about their third wheel, and he had taken it in stride. Norah made sure her hair was laying right and opened the door. 

“Wow,” Julian smiled, getting a good look at her. “You look incredible.” He looked pretty great himself in black pants and a black button-up shirt undone just enough to see that the tattoos on his neck went down his chest as well. 

“Thanks. So do you.” 

“Ready?” 

“Yeah.” Norah turned to give Coulson a ‘don’t forget to give us space’ look as he followed them outside. He let them walk ahead of him a bit until they were out of earshot but still within sight. “Sorry about Agent C.," she told Julian. 

“Oh, no worries. It’s kind of like dating a movie star or something.” Norah didn’t really know how to take that comment, but shrugged it off. While they walked, they chatted about what they were working on in the lab. 

Coulson got a really weird vibe from Julian, but he couldn’t place what it was. He also kept trying not to become occupied by Norah’s legs, which the red dress was revealing in a way that was rather distracting. 

They all made it to the Mediterranean restaurant, Coulson sitting at a separate table where he could see them but not hear them. He really was trying to give Norah her privacy – she deserved to at least be able to go on a date without him prying into her business, even if he personally had a bad feeling about Julian. He watched as Norah laughed at what her date said, absently twisted a strand of hair around her finger, smiled flirtatiously. He tried not to get annoyed by it and ordered a vodka martini, no olives. He didn’t usually drink while working, but it was just one and he didn’t have to drive. He’d eaten before the date, he wasn’t hungry.

Norah and Julian were exchanging stories from their undergrad days over their meal. When they were done, Julian paid, pulled out her chair, and helped her on with her coat like a perfect gentleman. Coulson quickly paid for his martini and followed them out, making sure he kept his distance. When all three of them were standing in front of Norah’s door, Coulson took a few steps away and turned his back. 

“Is that as much privacy as we’re gonna get?” Julian asked, looking down at her through long eyelashes that were making her weak in the knees.  
“I’m afraid so,” Norah said apologetically. Regardless, Julian shifted forward and put his fingers under Norah’s chin before lowering his mouth to hers. The kiss didn’t last very long, but was very sweet, and a huge smile spread over Norah’s face as he backed away. 

“I’ll call you or run into you at the lab,” Julian promised before walking away. 

“You can turn around now, Agent C.,” she told him, and Coulson turned around as Norah unlocked the door and let them inside. She immediately collapsed into a chair and sighed dreamily.

“Good date?” Mandy asked. 

“Great date.” 

Coulson just looked uncomfortable and sat on the couch silently.


	17. Clint Makes Mandy Melt

Clint arrived at the apartment wearing jeans and a tight black t-shirt. Mandy emerged in a denim miniskirt and low-cut green top, which Clint greatly admired. 

“Do you actually get prettier the more I see you, or do I just have a bad memory? Because I always remember you being attractive, but then when I see you I’m still surprised.” 

“You see, every night, fairies come into my bedroom and sprinkle magic beauty dust on me.” 

“So that explains it, then.” 

Clint knew of a fun, casual sports bar and grill nearby, so they walked there, thinking if they got a bit buzzed, they wouldn’t be driving. As they were walking down the street, Clint suddenly stopped a random guy. 

“Dude…this is my date.” The guy just gave him a weird look and moved on. 

“Did you know that guy?”

“No. I just thought I’d gloat. I mean, every guy in town must be jealous of me right now.” 

Mandy blushed furiously, smiling, and Clint grabbed her hand and laced his fingers through hers. They got to the sports grill and sat down at the bar. They ordered a couple of beers and a basket of mozzarella sticks to share. They had just ordered their second round when Clint pulled a few quarters out of his pocket and stood up. 

“Is it singing time?” Mandy asked excitedly. “Don’t forget, you promised that it would be a good song.” 

“No pressure,” Clint said with a smirk, going to the jukebox. A few moments later, he walked back to the bar while a familiar harmonica and piano duet began. Mandy instantly melted, recognizing one of her favorite songs. When she thought she couldn’t get any meltier, Clint actually started singing. 

“It’s nine o’clock on a Saturday  
The regular crowd shuffles in.   
There’s an old man sitting next to me  
Making love to his tonic and gin.” 

Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” was one of Mandy’s weaknesses, and Clint had a great voice – a combination of rugged and soulful. He continued singing the song verbatim, not missing a single word or note, the whole time smiling right at Mandy. 

“And the waitress is practicing politics  
As the businessmen slowly get stoned  
Yes, they’re sharing a drink they call loneliness  
But it’s better than drinking alone.  
Sing us a song, you’re the piano man…” 

He finally got to the last lyrics of the song, taking Mandy’s hand and holding it to his chest while he sang them to her, looking her directly in the eyes. 

“Well, we’re all in the mood for a melody,  
And you’ve got us feeling alright.” 

Mandy couldn’t wipe the smile of her face when he was finished, and he sat back down and bit into a mozzarella stick. 

“Was my song choice up to par?” 

“It was absolutely perfect,” she said quite honestly. 

They finished up and walked back, holding hands while Clint described to her different types of arrows, when they got to Mandy’s door. She looked at him expectantly – she had said he could kiss her on the second date. 

“Well, goodnight!” he said cheerfully, turning and taking a couple of steps away. 

“Hey—what—” Mandy was taken aback. Clint turned around, smirked, came back, put a hand on her face, and gave her a short, sweet kiss on the lips. He smiled at her and turned away again, but Mandy was having none of that. She grabbed him by the back of the shirt and pulled him back, putting her hands on the back of his head to pull his face down to hers.   
Now that she had insisted on a more substantial kiss, Clint delivered one. He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, his mouth moving over hers diligently. This kissing continued much in the same manner for quite a few seconds, then Mandy finally was the one to break the kiss. 

“I’m going to blame you if I don’t get any sleep tonight,” he smirked, making her blush and smile. 

“Guilty as charged,” she said, kissing him on the cheek and putting her keys in the lock, disappearing into her apartment and leaving him standing in the hall with a smile.


	18. Coulson Hears Girl Talk

“How was the date? What did you guys do? Did he kiss you?” Norah demanded once Mandy was inside. The two girls sat on the couch and gushed. 

“It was great. We got beer at this sports bar and shared mozzarella sticks, and he sang ‘Piano Man’ to me along with the jukebox, and it was so adorable, I practically needed to be mopped off the floor. Then we walked back here and he was all funny and then he gave me a really quick kiss, but I wasn’t going to put up with that, so I grabbed him and kissed him again, and…wow. Then he told me he’d be thinking about me tonight,” Mandy finished. Coulson was sitting in the chair across from the couch this entire time, looking increasingly horrified at the information that was being divulged. 

“Ladies…if it’s not too much to ask, could this conversation take place elsewhere? There are things I don’t need to know about my colleagues.” 

“Oh, right, sorry Agent C., I forgot you worked with Clint,” Norah said. “Well, that must have been awkward to hear.”

“You have no idea,” he admitted. 

“Come on, let’s go into my room,” Mandy said, deciding that Coulson probably wouldn’t handle it well when Norah inevitably asked where Clint’s hands were during the kiss.


	19. Frisbee and Tetris

For his second date with Norah, Julian had decided that they would go to the park on a Sunday afternoon. He had offered to bring a picnic. Norah arrived at the park wearing retro high-waisted denim shorts and a white blouse, Coulson in tow. She saw Julian in jeans and a green t-shirt and he led her to a blanket he had already set up. Coulson found a nearby bench and sat on it, fiddling around on a computer tablet. 

Julian had made grilled cheese for he and Norah and they ate it while talking about their families and drinking hard cider. When they finished up, Julian pulled out a Frisbee and they started tossing it around. Norah was surprisingly adept at the game – better at it, in fact, than Julian. She had a good throw and could catch it like a pro.

After a while, Julian excused himself for a few minutes, which Norah took as a good time to check on Coulson. 

“How are you holding up over here, Agent C.?” she asked, sitting next to him, still holding the Frisbee. “I know this must be boring for you – is that Tetris? Your score is insane.” She watched as the colored shapes slid rapidly down the screen, Coulson expertly getting them into place as several lines disappeared at once, noting the already high number skyrocket higher. Coulson beamed.

“I don’t mean to brag, but I have the highest Tetris score at SHIELD,” he said proudly. Norah was genuinely impressed, and it was always fun when she discovered something new about Agent Coulson, like his often-repressed sense of humor or his secret Tetris addiction. “What about you? Teenage boys all over the country would kill for your Frisbee aptitude.” 

“I have two older brothers who loved Frisbee growing up. Oh, there’s Julian, I’d better get back,” she said, and ran off again. 

They played Frisbee a bit longer before returning to the blanket, sitting comfortably. 

“I really like you, Norah,” Julian said. 

“Really?”

“Really.” 

“I like you too.” 

With that encouragement, Julian leaned closer and pressed his lips to hers, a hand coming up to her face. She kissed him back tentatively, letting him control how their lips moved. They kissed for several moments before he broke the kiss. 

“I hope that was okay,” he said. 

“More than okay,” Norah confessed shyly, a blush creeping to her cheeks. With that, Julian leaned forward to kiss her again. 

Coulson looked up to see their lips meet, and the word ‘jealousy’ never even crossed his mind among the possible explanations for the uneasy feeling he had when he witnessed this.   
After several minutes of Norah and Julian exchanging kisses, they decided it would be a good idea to call it a day. Julian packed up his stuff and Norah gathered up Coulson, giving Julian one last quick kiss on the lips before they walked off in their different directions.


	20. Oh, Right, This Story is About a Plant

Coulson changed into his athletic pants and t-shirt and sat at the kitchen table with Norah, who was eating a late-night bowl of cereal. 

“Want some?” she asked him. 

“Sure,” he said. She poured him a bowl of Froot Loops and passed him the milk. They sat crunching their cereal before Coulson decided to speak. “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but I still have a bad feeling about Julian.” 

“Agent C., do we have to do this right now? I had such a good date.” 

“I know, but a lot of people are after your plant, so you need to be careful about who you trust.” 

“And yet, I didn’t hear you giving me a lecture about trusting a complete stranger who broke into my apartment and invited himself in as a house guest. Sure, I saw your identification, but how am I supposed to know what you want the plant for?” 

“SHIELD wants to protect the plant from those who might use it with bad intentions and make sure that its powers are used for the good of humanity.” 

“Right, because Julian obviously wants to steal my plant and use it as chemical warfare. He’s doing a great job with the ever-popular and nefarious ‘make out with the girl’ thievery plot,” she said sarcastically.

“If that were his plan, wouldn’t it be working?” Coulson asked. He didn’t mean it to sound as harsh as it did. Norah glared at him, but softened after a moment because she knew he didn’t mean for it to sound the way it did. 

“Agent C…I’m not giving up my plant. Not to you, not to anyone.” With that, she put her empty cereal bowl in the sink and went off to her room.


	21. A Suit is Not Allowed

“Norah, Phil, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you two to not be here tonight,” Mandy said with a smile. 

“Ooh, is Clint coming over?” Norah asked. 

“I’m making him dinner.” 

“Yeah, trust me, Agent C., we’re not going to want to be here.” Coulson looked a bit pale at this. “No worries, Mandy, we’ll make ourselves scarce. We won’t come back until you text me.” 

“Where are we going to go?” Coulson asked Norah.

“I don’t know, we’ll figure out something fun to do.” He looked at her blankly. “You do know what fun is, don’t you? There are stories and songs about it? ‘Fun, fun, fun, ‘til her daddy takes the T-Bird away’?” 

“Yes, I believe I’ve heard of it. As difficult as this may be for you to believe, I even know who The Beach Boys are,” he retorted, amusing Norah. 

That evening, Norah put on jeans and a pink vintage top and got ready to go out with Coulson. The plan was to get some food, see old movies in the park, and grab some ice cream, and walk around until Mandy said they could come back. When she left her room, she saw him standing in his suit. 

“No. You’re not wearing a suit to movies in the park. I have to draw the line somewhere. Don’t you have something else you can wear? You’re going to get your suit dirty.”   
Coulson ruffled around in his bag until he found a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt, and went into the bathroom to change. When he came out, Norah was surprised to find that it was actually a really good look on him. 

“That’s better. Ready?” She grabbed her purse and a sweater and they went out the door, leaving the place free for Clint and Mandy.


	22. Clint's Role in the Plant Shenanigans

Clint was let into the apartment among the wonderful smell of enchiladas cooking. He looked great in a purple t-shirt and jeans. Mandy had on fitted jeans and a Top Gear t-shirt. 

“Stop. No, this can’t possibly be true. You do not like Top Gear,” Clint said. 

“I’m afraid I do,” Mandy said. 

“That’s not allowed.” 

“Why?”

“Because you shouldn’t be allowed to be so sexy. You like Billy Joel, can make enchiladas, AND watch Top Gear? No. It’s not permissible.” 

“If it helps, I could refuse to let you eat the enchiladas,” she teased. This quickly changed his mind. 

“No, that’s okay, I’ll make allowances. I suppose you’re allowed to like cars.” 

“I do like cars, but what I really love is motorcycles.” Clint raised an eyebrow. 

“What would you say if I told you I had a Harley Davidson Sportster parked outside?” 

“With a four-stroke v-twin engine?” 

“Yes…how did you…” 

“When did you get it? Only newer models have those.” Clint didn’t answer this question because he couldn’t stop himself from grabbing her and kissing her soundly. He finally broke the kiss. 

They sat down and dinner was served. It was delicious – enchiladas were one of Mandy’s specialties. They talked about Top Gear and other TV shows they liked, as well as movies and books, music having already been discussed in previous conversations. 

After they were done, Clint rinsed the dishes for her and they sat on the couch with a couple of beers. When they finished them, they put the empty bottles on the coffee table. 

“Clint, can I ask you something?” Mandy said. He saw the serious look on her face. She was going to bring up something she had wondered about. “You know how Agent Coulson was assigned to get the plant from Norah and protect her when she refused to give it to him?” 

“Yeah?”

“Were you sent to do the same with me?” She wanted to make sure he wasn’t just spending time with her as his job. 

“I was sent to ask you to talk to Norah about giving S.H.I.E.L.D. the plant. I already did that after meeting you in the alley. Since I saw that you were attacked in the alley, I was told I should keep an eye on you in case anyone else tried to harm you to get to Norah’s plant.” 

“So running into me a second time at the intersection wasn’t a coincidence?”

“No.” 

“Were you following me?” 

“No, just hanging around in areas near where you walked home at night.” Mandy took a moment to process all of this. 

“Is that why you asked me out? To keep an eye on me?” 

“No. No, Mandy. When we first met, I was attracted to you, and then when we met a second time, we were flirting, and I wanted to see you again. Not just from afar in case you needed rescuing, but actually see you again and spend time with you. I really like you. I know we’ve only been on a couple dates, but…I can’t stop thinking about you.” 

“Really?” she smiled. “I can’t stop thinking about when you sang ‘Piano Man’ to me.” He smiled and took her hand, playing with her fingers.

“Mandy, if this is too soon, that’s fine, but…could I call you my girlfriend?” 

“On one condition,” she said. He looked up, seeing the sparkle in her eyes. 

“What’s that?” he smiled. 

“That you kiss me right now, and don’t stop until we can’t breathe.” 

“Hmm…I don’t know, you drive a hard bargain,” he joked, putting a hand on his chin as if thinking about it. 

“Going once, going twice…” she said.

“Sold,” he finished, then wasted no more time in putting his hand on the back of her neck and kissing her soundly. She ran her hands up his incredible arms and kissed him back eagerly, not believing that she had such an amazing, funny, gorgeous boyfriend. He moved his free arm around her waist, pulling her closer, as she ran her hands over his shoulders and down his chest. His hand moved from her face to join the other one around her waist as her hands slid up into his hair. His tongue asked for her lips to let it in, and she parted her lips, granting it entrance. They collapsed back onto the couch, him on top of her, and, as promised, Clint kissed her until they were both breathless.


	23. But Who's Taking Care of the Cat?

Coulson and Norah had gone to a 1950s style diner for some food. While they were eating burgers and fries, Norah suddenly became aware of how weird this situation was. She was sitting and casually eating a meal with a man who was sent to steal her years of work and prevent any harm from coming to her. Obviously this wasn’t what Coulson’s usual job description was, but he seemed to just do what he was told without complaint.

“I guess it’s probably really annoying for you to have to spend all this time with me just because I won’t give you my plant.” 

“Not really,” he said. 

“I mean…I’m still not going to give it to you…but I’m sorry you have to be the one to hang around me 24/7…I’m sure there are things you’d rather be doing.”

“I’m always doing something for S.H.I.E.L.D. This isn’t any different; if I weren’t doing this I’d be doing something else. To be honest, this isn’t so bad.” 

“Don’t you ever just do what you want?” 

“You mean you couldn’t tell? Following people around on their dates is my favorite pastime,” he said, almost so seriously that it was hard to tell he was being sarcastic. “I know it may seem like S.H.I.E.L.D. is the only part of my life, but I do have a life outside of work. I go out for drinks on my birthday; I visit my family for Christmas and wear the ugly sweaters my mom buys for me every year; I had a girlfriend for a while, but it didn’t work out. I have a younger sister and a cat.” All of this made Norah smile. He was so professional all the time that she found this other side of him interesting – the normal human being side. 

“You have a cat?” Norah loved cats. “What’s its name?”

“His name is Flicker.” 

“Aww! That’s such a cute name! Wait, who’s taking care of your cat?” 

“One of my co-workers.” This seemed to relieve her. “You said you have two brothers?” he asked. 

“Charlie and Dan. They’re both married, Dan has two boys. I buy them all the coolest toys and teach them how to annoy their father like a good aunt should.” Coulson laughed. He couldn’t help but picture Norah with her nephews, feeding them snacks their parents wouldn’t let them have and telling them embarrassing stories about their dad. It was an adorable image in his mind. 

“Well, if you treat them half as well as you treat your plants, those boys must be spoiled rotten,” Coulson joked. They finished their meal and went to the park. They found a nice spot of grass to sit on and watched The Maltese Falcon where it was being projected against the side of a building. Occasionally they would whisper a comment about the movie to each other. When the film was over, they walked to a nearby ice cream parlor and got sundaes. They talked about their families some more. When they were finished, they walked around, talking about old movies, until Mandy texted Norah saying they could come back. When they got to the door, Coulson was suddenly aware that if it had been under different circumstances, the time he had just spent with Norah might have been a date. 

They went inside and Norah immediately disappeared into one of the bedrooms to listen to Mandy talk about her date with Clint, and Coulson just changed into his pajamas and watched TV on the couch.


	24. The Worst Wingman

After Mandy got to enjoy a ride on the back of his Harley, Clint unlocked his apartment and brought her inside. She was immediately met by a Jack Russell terrier, which jumped up on her legs excitedly, wagging its tail and barking. 

“Rufus, get down,” Clint said. Mandy sat on the couch and Rufus immediately jumped into her lap and started licking her face. “Aw, come on, man, that’s my girl, get your own.” 

“I’m not complaining,” Mandy giggled. “He’s a better kisser than you.” 

“Hey!” 

“He’s cuter than you too.” 

“Well, that I can’t argue with.” 

“How old is he?” 

“I don’t actually know, he was a stray. I have kind of a soft spot for stray dogs.” 

“Well, he seems very happy and healthy,” Mandy said, scratching Rufus behind the ear and making him kick his back leg. It was adorable. Clint sat down next to Mandy and kissed her, his hand slipping behind her head. Rufus immediately wedged his nose in between their faces. 

“Rufus, dude, you are the worst wingman ever,” Clint said, and Rufus immediately started licking his face. “I know it’s probably hard to believe, but I learned my puppy face from him,” Clint told Mandy. She laughed as he turned on the TV and they cuddled up on the couch, Rufus contentedly laying across their laps.


	25. Julian Makes it Official

Clint and Mandy started spending a lot more time together once they’d made it an official relationship. Coulson and Norah found themselves hanging around in the apartment by themselves in the evening until Mandy came back from her dates. 

Julian asked Norah on a third date, which she happily agreed to. She was amazed that the guy she liked so much wanted to spend time with her. They decided on wine and dessert at a bistro. They ordered some Moscato and each got a dessert of choice, while Coulson sat at a separate table. 

They each had a couple glasses of wine while slowly working on their amazing desserts, the whole time talking about a variety of things they had in common and things they didn’t. They even talked about what they each liked in the opposite sex. 

“I never know what to wear,” Norah confessed, “I mean, some guys like sweatpants and some like a fancy dress.” 

“Well, if it helps, I like lacy lingerie,” Julian said cheekily. Norah blushed at his forwardness, but noted this information. 

When they got the check, Julian waited for the waiter to take his card and reached across the table to take Norah’s hand. She smiled at him. 

“Norah, I hope this isn’t too soon to ask this, but…I’d really like it if we both didn’t date anyone else.” 

“You want to be exclusive? Like…be my boyfriend?”

“Only if you want to.” 

“Yeah…I’d really like that, Julian.” He smiled and kissed her fingers before signing the receipt and going around the table to pull out her chair for her. 

They walked back to her apartment and Coulson went around the corner this time in an attempt to ignore the kissing that would inevitably take place. 

Julian wrapped his arms around Norah’s waist and began kissing her romantically. She kissed him back happily, running her hands up his chest and over the tattoos on his neck. He leaned her against the door and ran his hands up and down her sides, from her rib cage to her hips. She exhaled, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer, and his tongue dipped into her mouth just for a moment. Finally, he broke the kiss and pressed his lips to her forehead. 

“Goodnight, Norah.” 

When he was gone, Norah began unlocking the door. 

“You can come out now, Agent C.”


	26. Scruffy-Looking Nerf Herder

Clint was making thai noodles for he and Mandy. She was sitting on the kitchen counter next to him, wearing denim shorts and a purple tank top. Rufus was at Clint’s feet, looking adorable and begging until Clint would occasionally toss him a piece of chicken. 

“Sweetheart, your legs are distracting,” he said, putting a hand on her thigh and leaning in for a quick kiss. She teasingly put her legs out in front of him every time he tried to turn to grab something from the fridge. “If you don’t stop I’ll touch your feet,” he warned, knowing that she couldn’t stand having her feet touched. 

“Touch my feet and you die,” she said through her teeth. 

“Ooh, you’re feisty today.” 

“Well, you’re a scruffy-looking nerf herder.” They both loved Star Wars and frequently referenced the original film trilogy. 

“Who’s scruffy-looking?” he retorted in a perfect Han Solo imitation. She couldn’t be mad at him if he was imitating Han Solo. She wrapped her legs around his waist to pull him closer and kissed him passionately. His hands slid up her sides while their tongues began to explore each other. Her mouth left his and she started kissing down his neck, stopping to suck on his collarbone, which, incidentally, was his weak spot. Rufus started whining that no one was paying attention to him. 

“Sweetheart…if you want to eat tonight…you might want to stop that, or I’ll get too distracted by…other things…to finish cooking…” Clint gasped. She stopped – the food did smell good. “I don’t know whether I should be turned on or insulted that you just chose food over trying to seduce me.” 

“What can I say? A girl’s gotta eat,” she shrugged, giving him one last kiss before releasing him to finish their noodles.


	27. The "Make Out With the Girl" Thievery Plot

Julian and Norah continued spending some more time together. One night, she had planned to order dinner and watch a movie with him in her apartment. Mandy was out somewhere with Clint, so they wouldn’t have to worry about that. Julian had come straight from the lab, put his big messenger bag on the floor, and leaned in to whisper to Norah. 

“Hey, is there any way we can get rid of the suit for a while?” he asked, gesturing his head toward Coulson, who was sitting calmly in a chair. Norah thought for a minute, then took action. 

“Agent C., wasn’t there something you wanted to check outside?” she said pointedly. He raised his eyebrows at her. “Something that would take a long time?” she said. He took the hint and went outside the apartment, sitting on the bottom of the stairs with his tablet, trying to beat his Tetris score. He didn’t like leaving Norah and Julian alone in there, but he also didn’t want to see them smooching all night. He just figured he’d wait outside until he was told to come back in. 

Meanwhile, Julian and Norah had finished eating and were watching a Venus fly trap documentary on the Discovery channel, cuddled on the couch. Norah was watching it with fascination, but Julian soon lost interest and had some other ideas in mind. He started slowly kissing Norah’s neck, and soon she was a bit melty. She turned to kiss him deeply, running her fingers through his hair. He ran a hand down her back and discovered a sensitive spot on her lower spine. She sighed into his mouth and slid her tongue past his lips. He broke the kiss briefly to continue kissing her neck. 

“You’re really sexy when you’re all excited about plants,” he said against her skin. 

“Really?”

“Mm-hmm,” he said into her neck. “A guy might get pretty turned on listening to you talk about plants, especially your accomplishments.”

“Well,” she whimpered, breathing heavily while he kissed across her collarbone, “there is the healing plant that everyone’s after,” she said, not complaining that he found her excitement about her work sexy. 

“Tell me more about it,” he whispered, his mouth working its way back up to her lips to kiss her passionately as he lowered her down onto the couch, half on top of her. She told him about how she worked on it and what potential medicinal values it could have. It became harder and harder for her to talk between kisses as his hands ran over her, his mouth alternating between her lips and her neck. 

“The bookshelf in the corner spins, Mandy came up with it,” she told him while he placed kisses on her cleavage. “I keep the plant there. It has a special watering system and artificial sunlight back there so that I don’t have to take it out to water it. No one has any idea,” she gasped. 

“You’re a genius,” he mumbled against her chest. 

“Julian? I think I want to change into something more…comfortable…” she sighed, pushing him up. 

“Okay,” he smiled, kissing her on the lips again. She went into her bedroom and changed into some lacy lingerie she had bought in case an occasion with Julian came up - royal blue silky panties and a matching babydoll style sheer lacy negligée. While she was at it, she spritzed on a little perfume and fluffed her hair a little. Good thing she had shaved her legs earlier. She opened the door and tried to pose in the doorway seductively. 

“I’m ready…” she said, then suddenly realized that Julian had his jacket on and his messenger bag slung over his shoulder. “What—are you leaving?” 

“You’ve been very cooperative, Dr. Kensington,” he said. “My boss will greatly appreciate it.” 

“Julian, what are you talking about?” 

“Oh, you actually thought I liked you…sorry, I had to pretend. But don’t worry, it wasn’t so bad. You’re attractive enough, I didn’t mind at all, really.” With that, he turned and left the apartment quickly, leaving Norah to stand there dumbfounded, processing what had just happened. As soon as it dawned on her, she ran to the bookshelf and pressed the hidden button under the top shelf to spin it around. The plant was gone. Heat rushed to Norah’s face as she realized that the entire time, Julian had led her on just to get to her plant. What an idiot she was. Hot, angry tears began to well up in her eyes.


	28. Mandy Calls Coulson Out

Coulson sat outside for what felt like forever. He played Tetris for a while, checked his emails, did a crossword puzzle. Finally, he saw a cab pull up on the street that had Clint and Mandy inside. Mandy grabbed Clint and they kissed passionately in the back of the cab for a few minutes before Mandy finally got out, waving goodbye to Clint for the evening. When Mandy saw Coulson sitting on the steps, she looked confused. 

“You know a car doesn’t technically count as a room, don’t you?” Coulson asked, referring to the make out session he’d just had to witness. 

“Don’t judge me, Phil. What are you doing out here?”

“Norah’s in there with Julian. She asked me to wait out here.” 

“Oh…OH. Well, I guess I’ll keep you company, then,” she said, sitting down next to him on the step. “So, Julian’s still in there, huh?” 

“Yes. I hope Norah is exercising caution with him.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I don’t like him.” 

“What’s wrong with Julian?” Mandy asked curiously. 

“He just seems suspicious to me. I can’t put my finger on it.” Mandy looked at him for a minute, trying to figure out what he was talking about. Suddenly, it occurred to her. 

“Oh my god. You like her, don’t you?” 

“I am concerned about her safety, it’s my job,” he said crisply. 

“No, I mean you LIKE her. You do.” Coulson didn’t have an answer. “If you like Norah, you should just tell her.” 

Coulson looked hesitant, then opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by the door of the apartment opening. Julian came out looking like the cat that ate the cream. He walked past Coulson and Mandy, then took off running down the street. A moment later, Norah came out wearing lacy blue lingerie. Coulson’s eyes almost popped out of his head at the sight. Norah walked past her friends and stood on the sidewalk in her lingerie, screaming down the street. 

“I’M SO GLAD I DIDN’T SLEEP WITH YOU, ASSHOLE!” Then she burst into tears. Coulson was still staring at Norah with his mouth open, and a few pedestrians were walking by staring at the scene uncomfortably. 

“Oh…oh god, what happened?” Mandy asked, putting her arm around Norah. 

“He took it…” Norah asked, and no one needed to ask what she meant. 

“Phil, go after him,” Mandy ordered. “Come on, we’d better get you inside and put on some clothes,” she added, giving some bystanders an apologetic look.


	29. The Aftermath of Julian

Coulson couldn’t catch Julian, but returned to the apartment with the intention of tracking him down. When he walked in, Norah was dressed in pajama pants and a hoodie and was sobbing into Mandy’s shoulder. 

Mandy’s phone, which was sitting across the room, rang. Coulson went to the couch to try to help with the situation, and Mandy let go of Norah to answer the phone. Norah immediately turned and stuck her face in Coulson’s chest, not caring who she was crying on. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her shoulders while she sobbed into his suit shirt. Mandy disappeared into her room to answer a call with her advisor. 

“You were right, Agent C. You tried to tell me that Julian was bad news and I didn’t listen to you,” Norah bawled. “I’m so stupid.” 

“You aren’t stupid,” Coulson said. 

“I am. He wanted my plant the whole time. It’s just…” 

“It’s okay.” 

“It’s just…no one besides Mandy actually cares about me…” she wailed into his shirt. “Even you are being paid to spend time with me.” 

“I’m paid to protect you from potential harm,” Coulson qualified, “but I’m not being paid to spend time with you.” 

“He has my plant…” she sobbed.

“I’m going to get it back. I promise.” 

At this point, Mandy left her room to see that Coulson was holding Norah, and decided to go into wingwoman mode and not interrupt that. Maybe if those two worked through their obvious attraction to each other, something might actually get done. About ten minutes later, she came out to find Coulson in his pajamas sitting next to Norah with the TV on. She sat on the other side of Norah and wrapped her arms around her friend. 

“When I see him, I’ll kill him,” Mandy said determinedly.


	30. Coulson's First Sleepover

The next few days consisted of much moping on Norah’s part. She went to her lab to check on her plants, but she didn’t even talk to them, which Coulson found alarming. 

“You do know you don’t have to guard me any more if I don’t have the plant,” Norah said sullenly. 

“I was assigned to protect you until S.H.I.E.L.D. is in possession of the plant,” he replied. 

The gravity of the situation finally hit Norah one night. Her years of work were gone in an instant, and no one except Mandy actually liked her for her. Everyone just wanted her damn plant, and because she’d trusted a hot guy, it was gone. She began crying again, but Mandy had left – she was spending her first night at Clint’s place. Norah wandered out of her room in her pajamas and found Coulson in his, sitting on the couch.

“Agent C.? I have a weird favor to ask of you.”

“What is it?”

“Mandy’s staying at Clint’s tonight…I think they’re going to…you know…” Coulson turned red. “Anyway…would you have a sleepover with me?”

“A sleepover?” 

“Yeah…I’ll share my box of vices with you.” 

“Box of vices?”

“Please?”

“Uh…I guess I could do that…” he said awkwardly, not sure what he had just signed up for, but being unable to turn her down. She immediately disappeared into her bedroom and came out with a cardboard box. 

“My box of vices,” she said seriously. Inside was a rather large bottle of red wine, a box of assorted chocolates, three different flavors of potato chips, The Twilight Zone complete series on DVD, and The Metaphysics of Star Trek by Richard Hanley.

“The Metaphysics of Star Trek?” Coulson asked, peering into the box.

“It’s good in the event of an existential crisis,” Norah informed him as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. She popped in The Twilight Zone and poured them each a glass of the red wine. They watched the show and ate the snacks, drinking the wine. In what seemed like a short time, they had finished the entire bottle of wine between them and were more than a little tipsy. Norah turned off the TV, grabbed a bunch of pillows and blankets, and made a huge pile of them on the floor, snuggling into it. Coulson began to set up his usual spot on the couch. 

“Agent C., get down here. This is a sleepover.” 

“You know you can call me Phil,” he said, the alcohol making him very relaxed.

“I could,” she replied. He got up from the couch and reclined on the huge pile of cushions, pulling the blanket over himself. They relaxed comfortably for a few minutes, then began exchanging random facts about themselves. 

“When I was a freshman during my undergrad, I went streaking at a football game,” Norah confessed. 

“Really? That’s…” Coulson decided it would be better not to finish that sentence. “When I was in high school, I spent the night in jail once for shoplifting with a couple of buddies.” 

“Agent C.! I didn’t know you had it in you.” 

“You smell like freshly-cut grass and orchids,” he said quite suddenly. Norah smiled. 

“Your irises look like blue Froot Loops,” she said, looking into his eyes. They both laughed. 

“Your turn,” Coulson said. 

“I am a huge Star Trek fan and can speak a little bit of Vulcan.” 

“Captain America is my hero and I have a signed Captain America trading card collection in mint condition.”

“I’m absolutely terrified of porcupines.” 

“I’m scared of bees,” he told her. 

“I can’t stand it when people touch my ears.” 

“I absolutely hate olives.” 

“Ninety percent of my opinion on a restaurant is based on whether or not it has good French fries.” 

“I have a weakness for macaroni and cheese.” Norah turned her head to him.

“You’re in luck: I make the best mac and cheese in the world.” 

“I think I should be the judge of that,” he told her. 

“Maybe you will,” she said back. 

“Your turn.” 

“Oh. Umm…I have an irrational fear of singing in front of people. I’m pretty sure my voice sounds like a hyena being boiled alive.” 

“That is such a weird description. I highly doubt your voice sounds like that. You should sing.” 

“Right now?”

“No, on your 45th birthday,” he said sarcastically, and Norah thought it was adorable. Their semi-drunk state was showing her a different side of him. 

“You don’t want to hear me sing.” 

“I do. I think you should. I won’t tell you something else about me until you sing.” At this, Norah paused, then finally opened her mouth and sang. 

“When Captain America throws his mighty shield  
All those who chose to oppose his shield must yield!  
When he’s lead to a fight and a duel is due,  
Then the red and the white and the blue come through,  
When Captain America throws his mighty shield!” 

There was a long pause for a moment while Coulson tried to get the smile on his face to disappear. 

“I like your song choice. And your voice isn’t bad at all.” 

“You’re just saying that.” 

“No I’m not, I don’t ‘just say’ anything.” 

“Now you promised you’d tell me something if I sang,” Norah reminded him. Coulson paused for several seconds then turned onto his side to look at her seriously.  
“I’m afraid I’m a bad kisser.” 

Norah rolled onto her side to look him in the eyes. He looked like he’d never said anything more earnestly in his life. As if she physically couldn’t stop herself, Norah found herself leaning toward him, putting a hand on his chest, and pressing her lips to his. He was a bit taken aback, but soon put his hand on her waist. They kissed hesitantly at first, but soon the kiss deepened, Norah grabbing a fistful of his t-shirt to pull him closer, and his arm wrapped around her more. She broke the kiss for a moment, not moving her head more than a breath away from his. 

“Phil, you’re not a bad kisser at all.” It was the first time she’d used his first name, and he couldn’t help but smile. She used his shirt to pull his mouth back to hers and they continued kissing. He rolled halfway on top of her as the kiss progressed, and she slid a hand down his chest. Her fingers reached the bottom of his shirt and she slipped her hand under the hem, her fingers making contact with his stomach. At this sensation, he broke the kiss abruptly and looked down at her. They exchanged awkward eye contact for a moment, then he rolled off of her. 

“I’m…tired,” she said. 

“Me too. I’ll get the lights.” 

“Goodnight,” Norah said while Coulson got up to turn off the lights. 

“Goodnight.”


	31. Sexy Times

Mandy arrived at Clint’s apartment and found him making them breakfast food for dinner. He had waffles, bacon, eggs, and hash browns. He heated up the syrup and made them screwdrivers to drink with it. They finished their food and put the dishes in the sink to deal with later. They snuggled up on the couch and started watching Star Wars, Rufus snuggled into Clint’s other side. Although it was a favorite movie of both of them, Clint soon had other ideas in mind and started rubbing Mandy’s shoulders. She had a lot of stress built up from her classes and loved the feeling of him working the knots and tension out of her shoulders and neck. 

“That feels amazing, love,” she sighed. He dug his fingers into her back, getting deep into her tissues and muscles. When he had her fairly relaxed, he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and placed kisses across her shoulder. “Well, this is going in a different direction than I thought it would,” she said with a smile, running her hands over his forearms. 

“You know what’s not fair, sweetheart?” Clint asked against her neck. 

“What’s that?” 

“That you know how to drive me crazy but I don’t know your most sensitive spot yet,” he whispered against her skin. “I think it’s only fair that I take the time to discover it,” he informed her, sucking a dark mark into the side of her neck. 

“I could tell you what it is,” she said, breathing heavily as his hand slid up to stroke her chest. 

“What fun is that?” he whispered into her ear, making her shiver. He had a feeling he was onto something, but he wasn’t going to give up his quest that easily. He turned her around and kissed her passionately, his hand threading in her hair and tugging on it gently. She sighed into his mouth, prompting him to pull a bit harder on her hair as their tongues began dancing together. A moment later, his mouth left hers and he stood up, picked her up, and threw her over his shoulder. 

“Hey, put me down…I wasn’t done…where are we going?” 

“Well, sweetheart, I need more room for this expedition,” he said, entering the bedroom and tossing her onto the bed. Rufus tried to follow them in, but was kicked out. “Sorry, boy, but you’re kind of a cockblock,” he told Rufus, closing the door. He lowered himself on top of Mandy and began kissing her again, his hands running along the sides of her body. “These clothes are in the way,” Clint informed his girlfriend, and she sat up enough for him to remove her shirt. He immediately began kissing her collarbone, working his way down her sternum. He placed kisses on her cleavage, his hands running along her thighs while she breathed heavily. He started kissing his way back up, reaching her neck, and he removed her hands from their place running through his hair and pinned them hard to the mattress. He kissed and sucked his way up her neck, finally ending just below her ear. She gasped – he was right about his suspicion. He tested it further by taking her ear lobe into his mouth, sucking on it for a moment, then biting it gently. Mandy involuntarily moaned. 

“Hmm, seems like I’ve found it. Well, that’s that,” he said, rolling off of her and reclining on his back. 

“Oh, no you don’t,” she said, running a hand up his thigh and pulling the neck of his t-shirt out of the way to kiss his collarbone. He gasped when her hand couldn’t get any higher on his thigh. He grabbed her and kissed her, rolling on top of her again. She broke the kiss just long enough to demand, 

“Why are your clothes still on, love?” She started pulling on his shirt. She got it over his head and tossed it away, and they quickly began kissing frantically as they worked on removing the rest of each other’s clothes. Once they were undressed, it didn’t take long for her to suck a dark mark onto his collarbone, setting off the rest of the evening’s events.


	32. Girl Talk

Mandy returned to her apartment in the morning to see a huge empty wine bottle on the coffee table, Norah’s box of vices on the couch, and Norah and Coulson asleep on the floor among a massive pile of pillows and blankets, spooning. It was adorable. She smiled and tried to tiptoe through the apartment so she wouldn’t wake them. What the hell had she missed last night? Did Coulson take her advice and tell Norah how he felt? She figured she’d find out later and snuck into the bathroom to take a shower. 

When Norah woke up, she was very warm and very comfortable, and somebody was spooning her from behind. She remembered that she had fallen asleep next to Coulson, so that must be who it was. She looked down to where his hand was resting on her hip. Well, this was awkward. The last thing that had happened last night was her shamelessly kissing him and him getting freaked out. Sure, he’d kissed her back at the time, but that was probably just the wine. Not knowing how to handle the whole cuddling thing, she just pretended to be asleep and hoped he’d deal with it. 

Coulson woke up and realized that he was spooning Norah and that his hand was resting on her hip. Fortunately, she was still asleep, so he thought that if he could extract himself without waking her up, he wouldn’t have to explain himself. She’d kissed him last night, but surely that was just the alcohol, and he didn’t want to creep her out. He slowly lifted his hand off of her, finger by finger, then gently scooted away from her and sat up. A moment later, she woke up and sat up too. 

“Good morning,” he said. 

“Good morning. I’ll make some coffee,” she said, sitting up, and that was that. Neither one of them brought up the kiss, both assuming that it would be better to just pretend it never happened. Norah and Coulson were both sipping coffee silently and awkwardly when Mandy came out of the bathroom with a big fluffy green robe on and her red hair wet. 

“Good morning, you two,” she said knowingly, pouring herself a cup of coffee. They both mumbled good mornings in return, turning a bit red. “Have fun without me last night?” she asked, then realized they were both acting incredibly weird. 

“Yeah, we watched The Twilight Zone,” Norah said, although she said it in a voice that indicated that it wasn’t the only thing they had done. 

“Cool…well, come on, I want to tell you about last night and I’m pretty sure Phil doesn’t want to hear about it.” 

“You are correct,” he confirmed, sipping his coffee. Mandy grabbed Norah’s free hand and practically dragged her into her bedroom, both girls still holding their coffee. 

“How was last night?” Norah asked. 

“I’ll tell you later. First, you’re going to tell me about YOUR night,” Mandy said, grabbing some clothes. Norah turned around while Mandy shed her robe and dressed, then they sat on the bed. “Explain why you two were cuddling on the floor this morning?” Norah blushed again. 

“Well…I was still a bit upset about my plant being gone and the whole Julian thing, so I asked Agent C. if he’d have a sleepover with me. So I got out my box of vices. We started watching The Twilight Zone and drank the entire bottle of wine, and then laid down on the floor and started exchanging factoids about ourselves. I told him about my fear of singing and he made me sing, and then he told me that he’s afraid he’s a bad kisser, and…I kind of…” 

“Oh…no way…did you kiss him?” 

“Yes…I’m so embarrassed, I mean, he was lying there looking at me and I just started kissing him. I don’t know what got into me.” 

“Do you like him?” 

“I…I think I do. I don’t know how or when it happened, but even though I thought I liked Julian this whole time, when I kissed him, it just felt more…right, or something. I don’t know – I think I started liking him but had no idea. Does that even make sense?” 

“Of course it does. I wondered if you did, but I didn’t say anything because you were dating Julian.” 

“Well I obviously freaked him out.” 

“I highly doubt that. He’s a man. Who is totally into you, by the way.”

“No, there’s no way he likes me. He kissed me back at first, but I think it was just the wine because after a minute he acted all weird and we just went to bed awkwardly. I don’t even want to know what he must think of me.” 

“He probably blames it on the wine too, but clearly it wasn’t just the alcohol for either of you. I think you should tell him.”

“No, I think it’s better to just pretend it never happened. I mean, the whole thing is kind of weird anyway…he was hired to keep me safe from harm, that’s the only reason he even spends time with me.” 

“Norah, don’t be ridiculous. He may be getting paid to protect you, but he’s not getting paid to lay on the floor with you drinking wine. I really do think he likes you.” 

“I don’t know, I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Norah said. “Tell me about your night with Clint.” 

Mandy shared the story of her wonderful night with Clint as only best friends do, and the girls chatted and giggled about it before they finally got hungry and decided to make some breakfast.


	33. Mint Julep Shots and Strip Twister

Mandy was feeling stressed out and Clint decided to come over to cheer her up. He brought a large bottle of Jack Daniels, which she was pretty glad to see. She could use a drink or several. Norah was working late at the lab and said she’d be gone for a while, and Coulson was obviously with her at all times, so they had the place to themselves for a while. 

Clint poured them each a glass of Jack on the rocks, and they sat on the couch cuddling and sipping the whiskey. He was running his fingers up and down her arm while she told him about what was going on in her classes. They finished their glasses and set them on the table. 

“I’m glad you brought the Jack. I need a lot of it tonight.” 

“Does this mean I get to see you drunk?” he asked, amused. 

“Only if you get drunk with me,” she said, walking her fingers up his chest. “Maybe I should go get some shot glasses,” she said, pressing a kiss to his lips before getting up to go get the shot glasses. She came back with the two shot glasses, a bowl of sugar, and a container of mint leaves. “I just had the best idea!” she said excitedly. “Mint julep shots! We lick the sugar, take the shot, eat the mint.” 

“How did you even think of that?” he asked. 

“I don’t know, I just did,” she said, pouring some Jack into a shot glass.

“I’m game.” With that, she slowly licked a line up his neck. “What are you doing, sweetheart? I thought we were going to take shots.” 

“I need something to lick the sugar off of, don’t I?” she asked, sprinkling some sugar on his neck. 

“Oh, we’re taking THOSE kind of shots?” he asked, his eyes lighting up. She took the shot and then put a mint leaf in her mouth, chewing it while he poured himself a shot. He licked the inside of her elbow, sprinkled sugar on it, and licked it off, took the shot, and ate the mint. It was her turn, so she licked the inside of his wrist, sprinkled the sugar, and licked it.   
When she was done with her shot, he flipped her over so that she was lying face down on the couch and licked sugar off the back of her knee. She finished off by licking sugar off his collar bone, and since she was wearing a low-cut shirt, he sprinkled some sugar on her cleavage and licked it off. By now they’d had a glass and a few shots of the whiskey each, and were definitely a bit drunk. 

“I have an idea!” Clint said. “Let’s play strip Twister!” 

“How do you play strip Twister?” 

“Every time someone slips or falls over, they have to remove an item of clothing.” 

“But I’m bad at Twister,” Mandy said. 

“Well, yeah, that’s the point,” Clint said, wrapping his arms around her and placing a kiss on her neck. “Please? It’ll be fun.” 

“I don’t know…” He lifted his head and gave her his puppy face. “Fine, we can play.” She went up to get the game. When she had it set up, they got started, taking turns working the spinner based on whoever was closer to it. Mandy was the first to fall down. She took off her shirt, leaving on the tank top that was underneath it. Next was Clint. He removed his socks. Clint slipped again after a few turns, and quickly removed his shirt. He was above Mandy, face to face, their limbs at awkward angles, when Coulson and Norah walked in. All they saw was a half-naked Clint on top of a scantily clad Mandy on a Twister board, her trying to kick his feet out from under him. 

“Agent C., I think we should go somewhere else for a while,” Norah said. “But...huh, she never told me he was so ripped,” Norah said, unable to keep from admiring Clint’s bare torso. Coulson looked horrified, so Norah quickly shut the door. 

Not having any success kicking Clint, Mandy decided to go for a different tactic and started kissing his collarbone. He slipped. 

“Hey, that’s playing dirty,” he said, removing his pants and standing in just his boxer briefs. He got back into position and spun again. They changed positions so that Mandy was upside down, her back to Clint’s chest. He reached his head down and started sucking on her ear. 

“Hey, not fair,” Mandy said, slipping. She took of her tank top. 

“If you can play dirty, so can I, sweetheart,” Clint said as she got back into position. They spun and changed positions, Clint’s face near her chest, and he pressed kisses on her cleavage. 

“No…you can’t…” Mandy gasped, then fell again and removed her shorts. It wasn’t long after that before the rest of their clothes were gone and the game of Twister forgotten in favor of different activities.


	34. Gravy Fries and Karaoke

Coulson and Norah walked down the sidewalk, trying to figure out what to do while their friends were occupying the apartment. 

“I don’t even want to know why they were playing Twister. Or why Clint’s shirt was off. Or why there was a half-empty bottle of whiskey on the table.” 

“I think you just answered your own question,” Coulson said. 

“You’re right. That explains a lot. Well, it’s kind of late, I don’t think there’s going to be much open.” They walked past the sports bar and grill. “We could go in here. Ooh, look, it’s trivia night!” Norah said excitedly, hopping a little. Coulson found this adorable and didn’t have any better ideas, so he opened the door for her and followed her inside. 

Figuring they couldn’t just sit in a bar and not get anything, Coulson got a vodka martini, no olives, and Norah got a Moscow mule. They got a trivia machine to submit their answers. The first question came up on the TV screen above the bar. They began answering the questions, pressing buttons on the machine to submit their answers. When the game finished and they saw the scoreboard, they saw that they had won. 

“Yes! We get a basket of gravy fries!” The appetizer was brought to them and they began munching on the fries, ordering a second round of drinks. “This is so bad for me,” Norah said.   
“Yet, I don’t care.” 

“You did say that your judgment of a restaurant is almost primarily based on fries. How does this one measure up?”

“Hmm, well, 10 for flavor, 7.5 for texture, making allowances for the fact that they’re smothered with cheese and gravy…it’s hard to say, I’d have to try them in their purest form with no sauces before I could truly make an educated decision,” she said excitedly, fluffing up her hair. 

“Do you know you mess up your hair when you’re excited?” he said, almost as if he couldn’t stop himself. 

“Oh…yeah, Mandy’s told me that before…” Norah said, embarrassed, smoothing her hair down. “You should have seen my hair the day I finished the plant.” Then, she suddenly got a very sad look on her face. 

“Norah, I promise we’ll get the plant back. I’ve been trying to hunt down Julian, but he’s disappeared off the grid.” Norah smiled at him a little sadly, before he added, “I’m sorry Julian didn’t end up being who you thought he was. I know you really cared about him.” 

“Well, that kind of disappeared when I figured out who he really was. I did like someone, but it turns out he didn’t exist. I mean, I don’t even know if Julian was his real name.” Coulson nodded for a moment, then his head snapped up. 

“What did you say?” 

“I mean, he lied to me about everything, his name might not even be Julian.” 

“I will have to look into that when we can get back to your apartment,” he said. “Meanwhile, they’re setting up karaoke, and if I recall, you have a fear of singing in front of people. I think you should face your fears,” he said, his eyes mischievous.

“No,” Norah shook her head, turning a bit pale. 

“I’ve heard you sing, your voice isn’t bad. You should do it.” 

“If I do it, what will I get out of it?” she asked suspiciously.

“I’ll watch Star Trek all day with you tomorrow. I’ve never seen it.” 

“You’ve never seen Star Trek?” she asked incredulously. “Ever? Well, we’re changing that.”

“Only if you do karaoke.” 

“Fine. I am so going to regret this decision,” she mumbled, but walked up and scribbled her name down on the list. She looked through the book of songs and found one that she knew had to be the one she sang. A couple of people sang before her, one very drunk college guy who was cheered on by his frat buddies as he belted out an off-key “You Give Love a Bad Name” by Bon Jovi; the other was a pair of middle-aged women doing their rendition of Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield.” Finally, Norah’s name was called, and she turned white and began pulling at her hair, poofing it up. 

“You’ll be fine,” Coulson encouraged. She stood up and walked over, grabbing the microphone. While she waited for the guy in charge to get the song going, she spoke into the microphone. 

“Hi everybody,” she said nervously, and Coulson got an amused look on his face. “I’ve never done this before, but I wanted to say that this song is for a friend that’s here with me tonight,” she said, looking at him. He turned red and looked down into his martini while he felt everyone’s eyes glance at him. The music started and a huge smile spread over his face as he looked up at Norah. She fidgeted nervously, but when the intro was over, she started to sing. 

“Who’s strong and brave, here to save the American Way?  
Who vows to fight like a man for what’s right night and day?   
Who will campaign door-to-door for America,   
Carry the flag shore to shore for America,  
From Hoboken to Spokane,   
The Star Spangled Man with a Plan!” 

It was the song that the USO girls used to sing at the Captain America show during World War II. Coulson knew it well, having listened to it on an old vinyl record with his father when he was a little boy. As frightened as Norah was to sing in front of people, she actually had a pretty good voice, and sang the song well. After a few moments, people started to cheer her on, and she gained some confidence and even did a few dance steps. When she finished the song, everyone applauded her, and she bowed quickly, blushing, before she went back to the table. 

“I can’t believe I did that,” she said, her hands pulling and puffing her hair into something reminiscent of a lion’s mane. 

“Thanks for the shout-out,” Coulson said. “I liked the song. I also liked that little dance move you did in the middle there,” he admitted, the martini making him a bit more bold than he usually was. However, he resisted his sudden urge to leap across the table and kiss her breathless. 

“Oh, that,” she blushed. “When I was younger I went through a phase where I was obsessed with World War II and wanted to be a 1940s USO girl.” It made sense, given the vintage-inspired style she wore daily.

“Well, all you needed was a red, white, and blue dress,” he said, and then tried to push that enticing image out of his mind. 

“Do you think it’s safe to go back to the apartment yet?” she asked. 

“I hope so, they’re doing last call.” They boxed up the remainder of their gravy fries and Coulson insisted on paying for their drinks, and they walked back to the apartment. When they got there, they didn’t hear any suspicious sounds inside, so they assumed that Clint and Mandy had fallen asleep. When they entered the apartment, Mandy and Clint weren’t in the living room, although the Twister game was still on the floor. 

“I think I might need to buy a new Twister game,” Norah said. 

“I think that seems like a wise idea.” 

“Well…I’m going to bed…don’t forget, tomorrow is an all-day Star Trek-a-thon. You promised.” 

“I didn’t forget.”

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”


	35. Star Trek and Mac & Cheese

In the morning, Norah left her room to find that Coulson had made coffee. Mandy came out of her room in pajama shorts and a tank top, and Clint followed after her wearing her fluffy green robe. 

“Where did you guys end up last night?” Mandy asked, pouring some coffee. 

“We went to the sports bar, did some trivia, some karaoke, no big deal,” Norah shrugged. 

“You did karaoke? You?” Mandy knew about her friend’s fear of singing in front of people. 

“I had to promise her one all-day Star Trek marathon,” Coulson told her. 

“Speaking of which…” Norah said, bringing her coffee to the couch and grabbing the DVD. Clint and Mandy, who both preferred Star Wars, gave each other a look. 

“My place?” Clint asked. 

“Yep,” Mandy said. They went into her room to get dressed and were soon out the door and headed to Clint’s. 

Coulson brought his coffee to the couch and sat down, pulling the blanket over him. Norah finished messing with the DVD player and sat down next to him, crawling under the blanket with him. She grabbed the remote and started playing the unaired pilot “The Cage” with Captain Christopher Pike. 

Around lunch time, they ate the rest of their gravy fries, enjoying the adventures of Captain Kirk and his crew. When it was about 2:30pm, Norah started to get afternoon drowsiness and spontaneously put her head on Coulson’s shoulder – he didn’t mind, and rested his head on hers. She fell asleep for about 20 minutes, then tried to pretend she didn’t after she woke up.   
When it got close to dinner time, Norah paused the DVD between episodes. 

“Are you hungry?” 

“Yes,” Phil said. 

“I have an idea for dinner,” she said, and got up and went to the kitchen. He followed her and watched as she pulled out the ingredients. “I told you I make the best mac and cheese in the world, and you promised me that you’d judge it as a mac and cheese connoisseur.” 

“I did,” he replied, his eyes lighting up. She boiled noodles and shredded some cheese while he watched. Finally, she strained the noodles and put them back in the pot, stirring in the other ingredients. She split the macaroni equally into two bowls and gave Coulson one. He scooped a forkful into his mouth. Once he had swallowed it, he stared at Norah. “I will never doubt anything you say again.” 

“I told you it was the best.” 

“I want to eat this every day for every meal,” he told her, shoveling it into his mouth. 

“Maybe if you’re lucky, I’ll give you the recipe,” she told him, eating some of her own. 

They finished and started soaking the dishes, then returned to the Star Trek marathon. They watched as many episodes as they could until they both fell asleep on the couch.


	36. Clint Cheers Mandy Up

Clint and Mandy got to his place and were immediately met by Rufus. They sat on the couch, cuddling, and watched Top Gear. Rufus curled up next to Mandy and Clint ran his fingers up and down his girlfriend’s arm. 

“How did you do on that exam you were worried about?” Clint asked. 

“Oh…I don’t know...actually, the score should be posted by now, I’ll check.” She pulled out her phone and looked it up, then started tearing up. “I did way worse than I thought I did,” she said. “If I don’t pass this class I won’t get my PhD.” Although she was usually very quiet about it, she was actually very worried about the class and now it all sort of came to life at once. Tears started running down her face and Clint wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hair. Rufus licked her hand. 

“Hey…it’s okay, you’re the smartest person I know. I’m sure you’ll pass just fine.” 

“I don’t know…this class has just been really hard for me and I don’t know what to do.” 

“Maybe try talking to your professor; I’m sure there’s something you can do. I know you can do it,” he told her, kissing her on the forehead and wiping away her tears. “If it helps, I can go kick his ass. Or try to seduce him. Only for you, sweetheart,” he said. She couldn’t help but laugh – he always knew something funny to say to make her smile. 

“Neither of those will be necessary,” she said. He pulled her into another hug, twisting her red curly ponytail around with his hand. 

“I think you could do anything you set your mind to,” he said, backing away just enough. “You’re intelligent,” he said, kissing her on the temple, “and talented,” he placed a kiss on her cheek, “and funny,” he kissed her chin, “and…hmm, I feel like I’m forgetting one…oh, that’s right, outstandingly beautiful,” he finished, bringing his mouth to hers. She smiled against his lips, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. Rufus got bored with being ignored and scampered off somewhere, allowing them to collapse onto the couch and kiss until Mandy forgot all about her exam score.


	37. Mandy Makes it Awkward

Mandy got home rather late from her day with Clint and found Coulson and Norah asleep on the couch, sharing a blanket. Her head was on his shoulder and his was resting on her head, and Star Trek was still playing on the TV, unwatched. She admired the adorable scene in front of her for a moment while she quietly tiptoed through the apartment, turning off the TV and the lights before going into her bedroom. 

Norah woke up to find that the TV and lights had been turned off. Mandy must have come back and done that. She slowly raised her head off of Coulson’s shoulder, trying not to wake him up in the process as she slipped away from him and out from under their shared blanket. He shifted a little in his sleep and then finally laid down on the couch, pulling the blanket over him more. Norah smiled – he was so cute when he was sleeping – and tiptoed into her room to go back to sleep. 

In the morning, Mandy came out of her room to find Coulson and Norah drinking coffee. 

“You two looked cozy last night,” she said bluntly. Norah and Coulson both turned a bright shade of red. 

“Uh, we were watching Star Trek and fell asleep…” Norah mumbled. 

“What did you think? Did she make a Trekkie out of you, or were you too distracted by the pretty girl next to you?” Mandy asked shamelessly while Coulson turned red and Norah willed her best friend to be quiet. 

“Well, I like the show, but the highlight of the day was definitely her macaroni and cheese.” 

“Oh, I know, it’s the bomb, right?” Mandy agreed. “So, what’s the plan for today?” 

“I’m going to work on trying to track down the plant,” Coulson said. 

“I’m probably going to mourn the loss of my baby,” Norah said. “I can only imagine what Julian is doing to her. What about you?” 

“I have to study…I didn’t do that well on my last exam and I need to catch up.” 

“Sounds like an exciting day for all,” Norah grumbled sarcastically.


	38. Fitz Nightengale

Around lunch time Clint arrived with barbecue wings to share with Mandy – he figured she could use a break from studying and was probably hungry. Mandy came into the kitchen to eat them with him while Coulson was on the couch on a laptop, working on trying to track down Julian or any other trace of the plant. 

“You’re the best, love,” Mandy said, wrapping her arm around Clint and kissing him soundly. 

“I figure I must be, since you want to be with me,” he said, giving her another kiss. They sat down and ate their wings, then cleaned up and went right back to kissing. Coulson watched his co-worker kiss Mandy with horror, and desperately needed moral support. He knocked on Norah’s door and she opened it, dried tears on her face, her hair a huge puffy mess. 

“I’m sorry to bother you, but Agent Barton and Mandy are kissing in the kitchen and it makes me uncomfortable…are you crying?” 

“No…yes…I’m never going to get my plant back,” she teared up again, going to the couch and flopping onto it. Coulson sat next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. 

“I promise I’ll find your plant,” he said softly. Mandy decided at this point that she and Clint should leave Coulson to comfort Norah, so she dragged him into her bedroom. Clint wrapped his arms around Mandy and kissed her, pushing her against her door and running his hands up and down her sides. His mouth left hers to start kissing its way down her neck, but she pushed him away. 

“I should get back to studying, love,” she said sadly. “I wish I could take a longer break. Sometimes I wish I could spend a weekend being someone else.” 

“Why can’t you?” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“What if we went away for the weekend and pretended to be completely different people?” 

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Mandy smiled. 

“Yes, I’m serious. We can come up with complete identities, stay at a nice hotel. Are you up for it?”

“Well…yeah, I mean, why not? Not to mention that spending an entire weekend sharing a room with you is not entirely unappealing,” she informed him, pressing a kiss to his lips. 

“Does next weekend work?” 

“That should work, yeah.” 

“I’m going to make the reservations right now,” he said. “Where do you want to go?” 

“Let’s go to Maine.” 

“Done.” 

Clint looked up a fancy hotel in Maine and pulled out his phone to make reservations. When the receptionist answered, he immediately slipped into character, putting on an incredibly flamboyant voice. 

“Hello, this is Fitz Nightengale. I’m Isadora von Hopper’s agent…you haven’t heard of Isadora von Hopper, author of the bestselling Waterfall Dreams trilogy?...Oh, I see, I figured you must have, only uncultured swine haven’t heard of Isadora von Hopper…yes, you know the Plaza hotel? It wasn’t famous until she stayed there…yes, she’s working on a new novel…Well, Ms. von Hopper needs a very specific environment for her work…first of all, Ms. von Hopper does NOT like fans bothering her, so she will expect you to keep this hush hush, you know how it is…”   
During all of this, Mandy had to press her face into her pillow to keep the person on the other end of the phone conversation from hearing her laughter. 

“…yes…and she will need a west-facing suite with 1500 threat count Egyptian cotton sheets in aubergine…not purple, not indigo, aubergine…well, if you can’t meet Ms. von Hopper’s needs, perhaps she will choose to stay elsewhere…well, of course she will write a dedication to your hotel in her new novel, she’s not a savage…yes, thank you for understanding…” he told the receptionist the dates they wanted to stay there. “Yes, thank you darling, we’ll see you then…Ciao.”

As soon as he had hung up the phone, Mandy burst into laughter and didn’t stop for a few minutes. Finally, she was able to speak again. 

“Fitz Nightengale? Isadora von Hopper? Waterfall Dreams?” 

“What? I had to think on the fly. They fell for it, didn’t they?” Mandy responded by putting on a dramatic, breathy voice. 

“Thank you, Fitz. I don’t know how they could have expected me to write a novel without aubergine sheets.” 

They spent a few minutes discussing their identities before Clint left Mandy alone to continue studying.


	39. Packing and Leaving

Mandy spent much of the next week studying and working hard on her classes, Clint taking care of arrangements for their weekend away. He was very supportive of his girlfriend’s goals and didn’t want her to have to worry about anything but school until they got away for the weekend. 

Coulson and Norah spent the week in the lab. While Norah was working, Coulson was on a laptop trying to figure out anything about Julian or the plant. The two of them even took a break and went to talk to some other people who worked at the lab to see if any of them knew anything or noticed anything strange about Julian. They didn’t find out much, but a couple people said they noticed him asking some odd questions about Norah from time-to-time. 

By the end of the week, everyone was exhausted and stressed out. Mandy was so glad to be able to go for a weekend away, and was packing in her room while she told Norah all about what they were planning on doing that weekend. Norah said she’d be glad to just spend the weekend in and relax, but that she hoped they could find her plant soon. She didn’t even know if anyone was properly caring for it. 

“Oh, hey, can I borrow some of your clothes?” Mandy asked. 

“Of course,” Norah said, and they went to go raid Norah’s closet. 

By the time everyone went to bed, Mandy was too excited about the weekend to sleep very much. 

*****

Norah was up drinking coffee when Mandy emerged from her room, ready to be picked up by Clint. She was wearing a peacock blue shirt, a bright orange scarf, a yellow skirt, purple tights, and red ballet flats. She also had on hot pink lipstick and her red curly hair was in pigtails. 

“Hello, Isadora von Hopper,” Norah said, admiring her friend’s eccentric persona. At that moment, Coulson emerged from the bathroom after a shower, buttoning up his shirt. At the glimpse of his chest, Mandy’s eyes widened, and she gave Norah a ‘you didn’t tell me about his hot body’ look. 

Clint arrived and Norah almost spit out her coffee to start laughing. He was wearing very tight black jeggings, a black turtleneck, and a single gold chain around his neck. 

“Hello, Fitz Nightengale,” Clint introduced himself to Norah, grabbing her by the shoulders and kissing her on both cheeks. 

“I can’t take either of you seriously right now,” she said. Coulson just raised an eyebrow, not really wanting answers to the many questions flying through his head. 

“Well, we’d best be off,” Fitz Nightengale said in his flamboyant voice. He grabbed Mandy’s weekend bag to take it out to the car, and she grabbed her purse and followed.


	40. Isadora von Hopper's Requirements

When they arrived at the hotel, they got out of the limo Clint had rented and entered with the chauffer bringing their bags inside. There were a few hotel employees waiting expectantly for them when they arrived. Clint went to each of them and kissed both cheeks. 

“Ms. von Hopper, it’s an honor,” a man with a red beard said, taking her hand and kissing it. He must be the manager. Mandy closed her eyes, waved her arms in circles, and took some deep breaths while everybody watched in awe. 

“This place has a relaxing energy,” she concluded in her whispery, theatrical voice and the employees all looked honored and relieved. “You,” she said, pointing to a bell hop, “your head has the perfect circumference.” He beamed. She moved on to a young woman who must have been the receptionist. “I wrote a character with elbows like yours once. She died.” Clint pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. The receptionist blushed and looked dismayed. All of a sudden, she looked into the distance and gasped. Everybody hushed. “I’m getting something,” she said. “I would like to be shown to my room.” 

“Ms. von Hopper will need paper made from Indonesian Eucalyptus bark and a pen made from a porcupine quill,” ‘Fitz’ said seriously. The hotel manager stared at him. He snapped in his face.   
“Now!” he said, and the manager scampered off. The receptionist quickly got their suite key and the bell hop carried their bags to the room. It was a huge, gorgeous suite with a great view, a massive bed, a small bar, a jacuzzi and a big flat-screen TV. When they were alone, Mandy turned to Clint. 

“Eucalyptus paper and a porcupine quill?” she asked in disbelief. 

“I wanted them to be kept busy for a while,” he said, putting the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door. 

“Oh, really? Do you have some plans in mind?” Mandy asked, eyes lighting up. 

“I think I have a few,” Clint said, pulling her to him and kissing her passionately. She kissed him back, allowing his tongue to explore her mouth as he took her into the bedroom and they collapsed on the bed. He moved his mouth to bite and suck on her earlobe, making her gasp. 

“Fitz, I can’t take you seriously in that outfit,” she told him. “The clothes must go.” 

“You can’t take me seriously? Look at what you’re wearing!” he pointed out. 

“Well, then, both of our clothes will need to be removed,” she said, then suddenly looked at the bed. “They actually found aubergine Egyptian cotton sheets?” However, this observation was soon forgotten. They worked on taking off their outlandish costumes and immediately returned to the task at hand. Clint ravished her mouth, kissed a path down her neck, past her collarbone, to her cleavage. Mandy grabbed his ass to grind his hips against hers, making him moan into her skin as she felt his excitement grow. He quickly made work of removing her bra, replacing it with his hands and returning his mouth to hers. She wasted little time before quickly making sure the remaining undergarments between them were removed.


	41. His First Name is Phil

Norah watched as Coulson sat in his suit on his laptop. She didn’t know why he had put on a suit when they were just chilling there all weekend – the dude was always in a suit. There was a knock on her door and Norah answered it, met with a guy holding a large garment bag. 

“Dry cleaning for Phil Coulson?” he asked. 

“Yes, he’s here. Thanks,” she said, taking the bag and closing the door. She hung the suits on the back of a chair and sat down on the couch next to the very focused Coulson. 

“Any luck?” she said. 

“I think I’m close,” he said, closing the laptop and rubbing his forehead. “I need a break, though.” 

“Thank you for working so hard on this…I know it’s stressful,” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Good grief, your shoulder is like a rock. Take off your jacket.” He looked at her confusedly. “Just trust me. I have magic hands.” He looked at her blankly. “You are stressed out and you’ll have an easier time working if you don’t have so much tension built up.” He slid his jacket off and placed it nicely on the chair, then sat with his back to her. She immediately began rubbing his shoulders through his nice blue shirt, digging her thumbs into the muscles to soften them. He relaxed into the massage and exhaled, feeling the stress leaving his body. This continued in silence for about twenty minutes until Coulson felt a lot more relaxed.

“When we had the sleepover, you didn’t tell me that this was one of your hidden talents,” he said with just the smallest hint of playfulness in his voice. 

“I like to be surprising like that,” she teased. However, the mention of the sleepover made her a bit flustered, and she found herself removing her hands from his shoulders and looking into her lap. “Phil?” He turned around and looked at her – she’d only called him by his first name once before. “Um…we haven’t really brought this up…” she couldn’t look at him. “At the sleepover, when I…you know…I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable…I should have asked if I could…um…kiss you…” she stammered, fiddling with a loose thread on her shorts. He was a bit taken aback for a minute, not expecting this topic to come up, but after a moment, responded. 

“It didn’t make me uncomfortable. I just assumed it was the wine,” he said carefully. 

“It was…I mean, I thought it was…it started out that way, I guess…” she had no idea how to say this. “I’m sorry, I’m not making any sense,” she realized. He waited for a moment before answering. 

“Are you trying to say that it wasn’t just alcohol behind that kiss?” he asked. 

“Well…yeah, I think that’s what I’m trying to say. It wasn’t just the wine…at least on my end, but I didn’t mean to freak you out, and I’m sorry about that.” 

“I thought I was the one that made you uncomfortable,” he said. “I thought I really was bad at kissing, and that’s why you never mentioned it.” 

“Wait, I…that’s what you thought?” she asked, looking up at him for the first time in this conversation. Something about the way he was looking at her made her realize that the kiss hadn’t just been the wine for him either. “Phil,” she said, suddenly feeling bold and grabbing the bottom of his tie, working her hands up it to pull him closer, “if you were bad at kissing, I wouldn’t want to kiss you again,” she said, taking the tie just below the knot and pulling his head closer until it was just an inch away from hers. 

“You do?” he asked, swallowing nervously. 

“A lot,” she whispered, then pulled him the rest of the way until their lips were touching. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back slowly, savoring the moment. Her hands slid up and around his neck as the kiss deepened. His hand slid up her back, trying to draw her as close to him as he possibly could. They kissed until they needed to stop for air. 

“Norah,” he said as she snuggled into his chest, “would you let me take you to dinner tonight?” She smiled up at him. 

“Of course, Phil.” They stayed cuddled up, enjoying the feeling of each other, until their breath had returned and they could go right back to exchanging kisses.


	42. Room Service

Clint looked at the room service menu and called the kitchen. 

“Yes, this is Fitz Nightengale. Ms. von Hopper would like the penne pesto boiled in 220 degree water and topped with exactly 1/7th of a cup of grated parmesan from Modena. We’d also like the four-cheese ravioli with sauce made from tomatoes that have been dried in the Tuscan sun. Yes, thank you.” 

“You are ridiculous,” Mandy said, kissing him on the lips. 

“You are gorgeous,” he returned, making her smile. After their bedroom escapade, she had put on her original outfit, while Clint had opted for a short, silky black robe that was provided by the hotel that barely covered his essential areas. 

When the room service delivery guy arrived, he looked thoroughly uncomfortable at Clint’s attire. In the background, Mandy was reclined upside-down on the couch, her head on the seat cushion and her legs over the back, humming a strange tune that she was making up on the spot. The room service guy left and they burst into laughter. 

“This is way too much fun, love. Thank you so much for this weekend.” 

“Anything for my girl,” said with a smile. 

“I’m never bored with you, that’s for sure,” she said, sitting down at the table where their food was. 

“I hope you never will be,” he said, hoping that it wasn’t too presumptuous of him to use such a strong superlative to describe their future. She just smiled. 

“With you? Never. Never ever.” 

“I love you, Mandy,” he smiled across the table from her. They had never said the word ‘love’ in that way before between them, but he knew it was true. 

“I love you too, Clint.” They ate their food, both glowing from the mutual feelings, exchanging glances and smiles across the table.


	43. Cuddling

Coulson was wearing nice khaki pants and a black dress shirt, forgoing his usual suit and tie. The top button was left open on his shirt, revealing a small triangle of chest, and he was waiting for Norah to come out of her room so that they could go to dinner. Finally, she emerged in a blue peplum dress, red lipstick on, and hair softly waved around her face. He smiled when he saw her – he loved the way she looked in blue. He offered his arm and they left for dinner. 

He took her to a nice, but cute and cozy Japanese restaurant. They got sake and sipped it slowly, enjoying their dinner and telling stories from their pasts. When they were finished, they went outside and he took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. They walked slowly back to Norah’s apartment and stood outside it for a moment, amused by the situation. Yes, they were on their first date, but they were also temporarily living together. 

“I had a great time,” Norah said in a shy voice, as if they didn’t know each other well. 

“I did too,” he played along. “May I kiss you goodnight?” 

“I’d like that.” He put a hand under her chin and pressed his lips to hers, the perfect first-date kiss. They smiled and went inside. The first thing they did was change out of their nice clothes and into pajamas, then sat on the couch exchanging kisses. The kissing deepened and he pulled her into his lap, and her tongue slipped into his mouth as his fingers threaded in her hair. They started breathing heavily and collapsed on the couch, kissing a bit longer until they needed air and took a break. She rested her head on his chest, warm and comfortable, and soon the combination of sake and snuggling made her breathing even out. 

“You’re falling asleep,” he told her. 

“Yeah,” she mumbled, her eyes opening and closing slowly as she tried to stay awake. 

“Wouldn’t you be more comfortable in your bed?” he asked. 

“I don’t want to stop cuddling with you,” she said honestly. 

“Come on,” he said, sitting up so that she had to get up off of him. He followed her into her bedroom, where he got in bed next to her and turned off her bedside lamp, then spooned her, wrapping an arm around her waist. They both fell asleep shortly after that.


	44. Jacuzzi Sexy Times

Mandy and Clint woke up, ordered some coffee and a very precise breakfast, and freaked out the room service guy again when Clint answered the door in his black jeggings, this time with a tight pink v-neck t-shirt. Mandy had put on orange leggings and a lime green dress with a magenta sweater and was standing on her head against the wall on the other side of the suite.   
They ate their breakfast and took a walk near the hotel, taking in the pretty landscape and occasionally doing something bizarre to keep up their façade. They returned to the suite in the afternoon. 

“I think that in-suite Jacuzzi is looking welcoming right now,” Clint said. “Might as well use this bar while we’re here too.” He surveyed the ingredients and ended up making them each a Bahama Mama. 

“You do know we’re in Maine, not Hawaii, right?” Mandy teased. 

“Fitz Nightengale does what he wants,” he said sassily. They started filling up the hot tub and Mandy went into the bedroom to grab her bikini. She had the top in her hand when Clint grabbed it out of her hand and tossed it across the room. “No swimsuits allowed.” Mandy caught his drift and smiled wickedly, so they both removed every stitch of clothing and got into the warm tub, taking their drinks with them. They cuddled up in the inside of the hot tub and sipped their drinks until they were gone, then just enjoyed the relaxing feel of the warm water and the jets. 

“This is the best weekend ever,” Mandy told him, turning her head to place a kiss on his lips. Clint responded by kissing her shoulder, making his way up her neck, and ending by tugging on her earlobe with his teeth. She sighed and ran her hand up the inside of his thigh, stopping just before reaching the essential area. She captured his mouth with hers and they explored every inch of each other’s bodies with their hands under the water while their tongues and lips got to know each other intimately. Her mouth left his to suck on his collarbone until there was a dark mark there, sliding her hand down his stomach, making him moan. His hands found her chest and he started kissing his way down her sternum. 

“Do you want to move to the bed?” he asked against her skin, his fingers stroking her chest. “I’m personally in favor of staying right here.” 

“Stay here,” she gasped, and she could feel his excitement against her leg. He kissed her again, ready to show her just how much he loved her as many times as possible that night.


	45. His First Name is Not Julian

Phil and Norah awoke cuddling and decided to spend the Sunday in. They knew Mandy would be back the next morning, so Norah did a little cleaning, but for the most part they just relaxed together. They watched TV, they played Tetris, did a crossword puzzle together, she made massive amounts of macaroni and cheese. Finally, they settled on the couch and exchanged more little tidbits of information about themselves. When they both ran out of ideas, they sat in silence for a few minutes. 

“Phil?” 

“Yes, Norah?” 

“What happens if you find my plant?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“Are you just going to take it back to SHIELD and stay there? Will I never see my plant or you ever again?” This was a serious worry of hers. 

“No, I wouldn’t just take your plant and leave. I’m not Julian.” 

“I know, but…it’s just…that’s what your original assignment was. To get the plant and take off with it.” 

“Things change. I don’t know what’s going to happen when I track down the plant, but I promise I won’t just disappear with it. My work is important to me, but so are you.” She smiled and lifted her head to press a kiss to his lips, hoping he’d find her plant soon.


	46. Clint's Turn to be Traumatized

Mandy and Clint walked in to Mandy’s apartment to find Coulson on top of Norah on the couch, kissing her lips with intensity. They dropped their luggage on the floor and Coulson scrambled up, not realizing that they had gotten back. He sat on the couch trying to pretend that nothing had happened while Norah put her legs over his lap. 

“FINALLY you two got together,” Mandy said proudly. Clint, however, had a different opinion on the matter. 

“I can’t un-see that. I need to cleanse my brain…” he said. 

“We’re not the ones covered in hickeys,” Norah pointed out while Coulson ran his fingers up and down her leg. 

“Stop. No. That is not a mental picture I need to have,” Clint said, horrified. 

“Well, I think it’s adorable, and about damn time,” she said. 

“What do you mean, about damn time?” Norah said. “He didn’t even start liking me until recently.” All three of them looked at her like she was crazy. “What?” she asked cluelessly. “When did you start liking me?” 

“When I first saw you talking to your plants,” Coulson admitted. 

“Really?” she was genuinely surprised by this. 

“Wait, you talk to plants?” Clint asked. 

“Have you met her?” Mandy asked. Norah just nodded in agreement. 

“Well, I’d better go back to my place so my neighbor doesn’t have to deal with Rufus for the rest of the day. Want to come?” Clint asked Mandy. 

“Sure. You two have fun,” Mandy said. 

“Don’t tell them that,” Clint cringed as they closed the door.


	47. A Return...and a Reward

The next couple of weeks were busy for the four of them. Clint spent a lot of time helping Mandy study, holding her notes and quizzing her to make sure she remembered all the information. He knew that she was worried about her classes and that it was important to her, and helped however he could. 

Coulson worked a lot on trying to find Norah’s plant, sometimes taking her on dates at night. They didn’t really talk about what they should call their relationship, but they were both comfortable with it. 

One morning, however, Norah woke up, and Coulson was gone. His things were missing, the blankets were folded neatly on the end of the couch, and there was no sign of him anywhere. Norah started to tear up. He’d left her without even saying goodbye. She thought he was different than Julian, but he really did just want her plant. He probably found it and brought it back to S.H.I.E.L.D. and has no intention of ever speaking to her again. Tears ran down her face and she went back to bed. Suddenly, she didn’t feel so good. She spent the rest of the day crying and occasionally falling asleep, and being unable to eat. 

The entire week was not great for Norah. It was bad enough to lose her plant, but she had lost Phil too, and it was heart-breaking. Mandy comforted her as much as she could, but there was only so much she could do. 

“There has to be an explanation. He really cared for you,” Mandy said. 

“He could have left a note or something. I’m never going to see him or my plant again,” Norah insisted. Mandy truly believed that something must be wrong, but she could only say so much before giving up on Norah believing her. 

A week later, Norah came home from a long, depressing day at the lab. Mandy was staying the night at Clint’s, so she knew she’d have a lonely night. She entered her apartment and the first thing she saw was her plant sitting on the kitchen counter. She went to it and looked at it. It was definitely her plant. It was a little dry, but it was hers. Staring at it with wide eyes while she processed everything, she immediately pulled at and fluffed up her hair. 

“My baby,” she said, tearing up. “Did they hurt you? Look how dry you are, you must be parched!” She immediately grabbed a glass of water, filled it up in the kitchen sink, and poured some into the soil. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I’m so glad you’re safe and home.” 

“Do you have any idea how cute you are when you talk to plants?” a voice said behind her. She gasped and turned around to see Coulson standing there. She folded her arms across her chest and looked at him. 

“You left. You didn’t say goodbye or leave me a note or call me, you just left.” 

“I found out where Julian, or rather, Dr. Steven Hoffberg, was keeping your plant, and I had to go after him right away. He was on the other side of the country, so I brought my luggage with me.” 

“What happened to Julian?” 

“Dr. Hoffberg has been arrested for fraud, kidnapping, and extortion. He was holding a government official hostage, injecting him with a virus, and withholding the cure from him until he agreed to stop funding a rival laboratory.” 

“Thank you for bringing my plant back to me,” she said. 

“I have to get it to S.H.I.E.L.D. It’s the only way to make sure it stays out of the wrong hands until it is tested and certified.” 

“So, what, you brought it back here just to let me see it one last time…see you one last time…and then you’re just going to take it and leave me with nothing again?” she asked angrily, hot tears streaming down her face.

“No. Norah, I have to take the plant back to S.H.I.E.L.D.…but I think you should be with it…and with me.” 

“You want me to come to S.H.I.E.L.D. with you?” she asked, confused. 

“Yes. You would be the best person to test this plant. S.H.I.E.L.D. has state-of-the-art laboratories and equipment, you’d be paid well, and everything you could need would be provided for. I already received approval,” he told her. 

“You’re offering me a job?” 

“Yes, if you’d like to think of it that way. I’d also like to be your boyfriend…if that’s okay.” 

“I don’t know what to say…” Norah was in shock. “It’s a great offer. Yes,” she finally concluded, a smile covering her face. “To the job and the boyfriend.” Coulson stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her happily. She was coming with him back to S.H.I.E.L.D. They made their way to the couch, still kissing. Their tongues started to explore each other’s mouths, and he helped her off with her sweater. She followed by sliding his suit jacket off his shoulders. He lowered them back onto the couch, sliding a hand down her back. When he reached her lower spine, she gasped and broke the kiss. 

“Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?” Phil asked. 

“No, it’s just…sensitive there…” she squeaked. He looked confused for a moment, brushing his fingers over the area again, and she trembled in his arms and moaned. She lowered her mouth back to his and kissed him hungrily, and he very much liked the reaction to her being touched there. Her mouth left his and travelled in kisses across his cheek. She placed a kiss behind his ear and he tensed up with a gasp. Realizing that she was onto something, she brushed her lips over the skin again, and he exhaled, his arms tightening around her. She started kissing down his neck, wiggling his tie loose. She got the tie off and tossed it aside, then started undoing each button on his shirt, kissing the newly revealed skin of his chest each time. When she was halfway down, Coulson tensed up. 

“Are you sure we’re ready to do this?” he asked. 

“Do you not want to yet? It’s okay if you’re not ready,” she said. 

“No, I want to, I just wanted to make sure you’re ready.” 

“Hmm,” she thought. “I guess you’re right. Maybe we should wait,” she said, getting off of him. “I think I’ll just go to bed,” she bluffed. “Goodnight,” she said, disappearing into her room. Coulson was a little disappointed, but he respected her and if she didn’t want to reach that level of their relationship yet, he understood. He went into the bathroom to change into pajamas and settled himself on the couch, wide awake. A moment later, he heard Norah’s bedroom door open. 

“Phil,” she crooned. He sat up and looked over the back of the couch to see her leaning sexily in the doorway in the blue silk panties and matching lacy negligee he had seen her wear once before when Julian stole her plant. 

“Um…I…” he stammered, aroused and flustered. 

“Get in here,” she said with a smirk. He wasted no time in obeying, scrambling off the couch and coming into her room. She closed the door and walked toward him seductively. He backed up and tripped backwards onto her bed, then raised himself up until he was sitting up against the headboard. She crawled over and straddled his lap, kissing him passionately. He ran his hands up and down her bare thighs, her hands slipping under the hem of his t-shirt to remove it. She pulled it over his head and moved her mouth to the spot behind his ear, sucking on the skin and then running her tongue over it. He moaned and she backed away to smile at him. 

He responded by sliding his hand under the lacy fabric of her babydoll-style lingerie and stroking the sensitive part of her spine, kissing a line down her neck while she breathed heavily, running her hands down his chest. He continued kissing down her sternum and across her cleavage, slowly sliding the straps of her negligee down her shoulders. His mouth returned to hers as he slid the garment off, tossing it aside. He lifted his hips under her enough for her to remove his athletic pants. They shifted down the bed until they were laying side-by-side, and he pulled her closer, his hands exploring as much of her bare torso as they could while he ravished her mouth. It didn’t take long for the few remaining garments to be discarded.


	48. Clint is Cleansed, Mind and Body

Mandy and Clint entered Mandy’s apartment in the morning and the first thing Mandy saw was the plant sitting on the counter. 

“Norah?” she asked, but didn’t get an answer. “Norah, did you see, your plant is back?” she said. She walked over to Norah’s door, Clint following, and knocked on it softly before opening it. She saw Norah and Phil in her bed, obviously naked. They were happily asleep, Norah snuggled into his chest and his arms around her, the sheet wrapped around their chests. Clint looked absolutely appalled while Mandy smiled and quietly closed the door. 

“Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew,” Clint said. 

“You’re such a girl,” Mandy teased. 

“Sweetheart, how much do you love me?” 

“You know I love you more than Star Wars.” 

“Then would you do me a favor and gouge my eyes out?” 

“No.” 

“But I don’t want to see that ever again.” 

“Then I think I’ll have to give you a different image to cleanse your mind,” she said wickedly. 

“What kind of an image?” he asked, his eyes lighting up. 

“I’ll give you a hint. I want to take a shower…” she told him. A slow grin spread over his face. 

“And I get to watch?” 

“You can watch if you want, but you’re more than welcome to participate.” They disappeared into the bathroom and turned the water on. Clint had never stripped so quickly in his life.   
“I get to see you naked, I get to see you naked,” he sang, jumping into the shower. Mandy shook her head at him, smiling at his antics, and followed him in. They immediately started splashing water at each other. He lathered his hair up and she reached over and formed it into a fake mohawk. He grabbed the shaving cream and started spraying it all over her. 

“You’re such a dork,” she told him. 

“But I’m your dork.” 

“It’s true.” 

“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you…my brother’s birthday is in about a month and I was going to visit my family for the weekend. Would you like to come?”  
“You want me to meet your family?” she smiled. 

“Yeah, if you want to.” 

“Do you think they’ll like me?” 

“Psh, they’ll probably like you more than me,” he told her. 

“I’d love to,” she said, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him, the contact of their bodies making a huge mess of shaving cream, soap, and shampoo.


	49. Doctor Sweetheart

Clint, Norah, and Coulson sat at Mandy’s graduation, watching as she was given her PhD. When it was over, Clint ran and kissed his girlfriend excitedly. 

“Is it weird that the cap and gown thing is kind of working for me right now?” he asked. She raised an eyebrow at him, smiling and shaking her head. He gave her a big hug. “I’m proud of you, sweetheart.” 

“That’s Dr. Sweetheart to you, mister.” Clint looked like he very much enjoyed this. “Hey, I have someone who wants to meet you,” he said. He led her to a tall, dark-skinned man with an eye patch and a long black coat. 

“Dr. Mandy Harper? Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nick Fury and I’m the leader of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. You have an impressive resume,” he told her. She knew that this must be Clint’s and Coulson’s boss. “We could use a talented chemical engineer like yourself at S.H.I.E.L.D.” 

“Thank you,” she said, glancing at Clint, then back at Fury. “Are you…offering me a job.” 

“Yes. I am prepared to offer you substantial compensation and benefits, as well as access to highly advanced equipment and resources,” he said. 

“I don’t know what to say…I accept,” she said, shaking hands with the man. The next day, Norah and Mandy were loaded into a small plane with their boyfriends and flown to their new workplace, S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.


	50. This is a Completely Gratuitous Scene

Coulson knocked on the door of Norah’s new sleeping quarters at S.H.I.E.L.D. He wanted to spend some time with her, even though it was rather late. She had expected him to at least come and say goodnight, so she prepared by putting on the Captain America show USO girl costume she had bought online and was ready to answer the door when he knocked. She opened her door and leaned against the door frame, his mouth opening involuntarily when he saw the outfit. It was a short, low-cut halter dress with a blue bodice, white stars on the lapels, and a red-and-white striped skirt. It also had long white gloves that reached past her elbows. The costume had come with a hat, but she decided to leave that off for what she had in mind. 

“I…uh…I…” he stammered, turning red as his eyes ran over her body. She grabbed the front of his t-shirt with her gloved hand and pulled him inside, closing the door behind him. “I wanted to see if you like your room and…um…” he tried to say, but she had pushed him down into a chair with a wicked look on her face. She turned around and pressed a button on her iPod that was plugged into speakers, and Christina Aguilera’s version of “A Guy What Takes His Time” started playing. Coulson just stared in shock, not expecting this turn of events at all. 

As the sultry intro started playing, she began walking toward him slowly, her hands running over her body. He watched her touch herself, swallowing nervously, as she stood between his legs and pulled on the finger of one of her gloves with her teeth. She brought the arm across her chest and began pulling at the fingers of the glove one-by-one, sliding it off. She circled the glove over her head and then slid it around the bare skin on his neck, leaving it resting on his shoulder. She backed away a bit and bent over, giving him a view of her backside as she slid the other glove off and tossed it over her shoulder at him. 

She walked closer again, standing with one leg on either side of his knee, gyrating her hips and rolling her chest near his face, and he took a deep breath, not entirely knowing which part of her body to look at. His hands reached out and touched her legs, but she grabbed them and pushed them away, shaking her head. He wasn’t allowed to touch yet. 

She got onto the floor between his legs, putting her hands on his knees and rolling her body. He turned red and shifted in his chair a little, knowing that his arousal was pretty obvious. She laid down on the floor and lifted her legs into the air, giving him a good view of the back of her legs. She could tell he liked her legs and wanted to give him a good view. She slid one leg up the other, bending her knee, then back up, opening them and closing them. He stared at the sight, pulling at his pajama pants a bit. 

She stood up and continued moving in time with the song, walking around behind him and sliding her arms hands down his arms and over his chest. She breathed onto his ear, making him tremble. As the song was coming to an end, she walked back around to the front, straddling his lap, and brushing her lips over his without planting them down just yet. 

“Norah…” he rasped, his mouth a bit dry. 

“Shhhh,” she silenced him, sliding a finger down over his lips. She kissed him slowly, gently, just enough. He started sliding his hands up her legs, over her hips, up her sides. Deciding he’d endured enough teasing, she pressed her lips behind his ear, running her tongue over the sensitive spot, before she took his hand and led him over to the bed, sliding his t-shirt off and allowing him to undo the halter top on her dress. She was able to spare just a moment to think about how she hoped she was making this man as happy as he made her, ecstatic that he had cared about her enough to want her to come with him.


	51. This Story Has a Punchline

Norah’s and Mandy’s eyes lit up as they explored the labs at S.H.I.E.L.D. They were well-equipped, clean, high-tech, advanced, and just plain awesome. Norah had been able to bring all of her plants along, and she quickly began chattering at them, fluffing her hair into a puffy, tangled mess. 

“You’re such a nerd,” Clint said to Mandy. He didn’t live at S.H.I.E.L.D., but spent a lot of his time there, and Mandy had agreed to move in with him at his apartment. Clint secretly thought she’d be a great mother for Rufus, but he decided not to bring up that he thinks of his dog like his baby. 

“But I’m your nerd,” Mandy said. 

Suddenly, a handsome dark-haired man with a strange circle of light on his chest shining through his t-shirt appeared in the lab. He glanced at everyone in the room, then suddenly did a double-take when he saw that Coulson’s arm was around an attractive woman. 

“Hi, Tony Stark,” he introduced himself to the two strangers in the lab. Introductions were made all around, and Tony started fiddling on a computer screen. 

“Do you like the lab?” Coulson asked Norah. 

“I love it, Phil,” she said, placing a kiss on his lips. Clint and Tony Stark cringed. Tony raised an eyebrow at Norah. 

“Phil? Uh, his first name is Agent.”


End file.
